Forbidden
by theNightElf
Summary: A new girl has joined Diz in the fight against the Organization. AxelOC. Rated for character deaths and language
1. Heroine

The only things I own in this story are the ones you don't have a chance of recognizing because they came from the dark, twisted labyrinth of my mind. It's a scary place, believe me.

The story of two enemies meeting and falling in love isn't exactly uncommon. We read about it, we write about it, we sing about it, we dream about it.

Take Romeo and Juliet, for example. Two people on opposite sides of a fight realize they really love each other upon their very first meeting. Of course, some people might say if the got to know each other better, they'd probably fall right out of love, but that's not important. The important thing is love between two opposites isn't unheard of. But, of course, that doesn't make it any easier when it happens.

First, let's meet our heroine. Her name is Shoshanah Sparks. Nothing unusual about her appearance. She's neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, neither beautiful nor ugly. If you went and looked at all the heroine candidates, she won't be on the bottom of the list, but she definitely wouldn't be on the top, either.

At this moment, she's talking to what one would certainly call an unusual man. He was tall, and wearing a red and black robe, and his face was covered with red bandages. I have been informed, by a very reliable source, that this man is called "Diz", so that's what we'll call his as well.

"Think carefully, Mrs. Sparks," he was saying.

"Shoshanah," Shoshanah corrected.

"Shoshanah," Diz sighed. "Fighting Organization 13 is no laughing matter—"

"I'm not laughing," Shoshanah interrupted again. She might not have been laughing, but she was certainly smiling.

"It's not an easy thing," he pressed. "Not something to be taken so lightly. And I need to be sure you'll stick with it, no matter what happens. I can't have my people leaving this critical fight."

Shoshanah rolled back on her heels, eyeing him curiously. Her eyes were the only unusual things about her. Her left eye was green while the right one was purple.

Finally, she said, "Are you really in a position to refuse my help?"

Diz smiled grimly. "I suppose not. Welcome to the team."

-

"The team," it turned out, consisted of three people: Diz, now Shoshanah, and a little monkey-like man named Wally. No one knew where Wally had come from and his communication involved broken English—mostly profanity—mixed-up sign language, and jumping up and down, waving his arms and screaming. That last one meant he was agitated. Wally was mostly used for cleaning the cooking—he made an excellent beef stew.

"So, Shoshanah," Dix began over dinner. "The only reason why I was so quick to trust you was because of your history. Once I had become aware of your intention to join me…us," he corrected with a glance towards Wally, who was busy gorging out chucks of the table with his spoon. "I did some research on you. You have an excellent history of fighting the Heartless and Nobodies."

Shoshanah shrugged. "They invaded my home planet six years ago. I got away, but…" her face darkened. "But many didn't. And my home was destroyed."

"I empathize," Diz said. "I, too, have lost everything I held dear to those people."

There was an awkward silence as both Diz and Shoshanah were lost in their grim thoughts. Only Wally seemed at ease.

"What about him?" Shoshanah asked, looking curiously at him. Wally had begun chugging his stew, and hadn't noticed he had gotten involved in the conversation.

"I'm not sure," Diz frowned. Wally grinned impishly; his two front teeth were missing. "He _seems_ to agree with the cause, and he _did_ nearly kill Larxene—one of the Organization members—with a spoon. There's no reason why he'd betray us, so I see no reason why I should kick him out."

Shoshanah pulled her long, blond hair back in a sloppy ponytail. "Sure. I guess that makes sense." She finished her stew and set her spoon down. "Do you need anything, or can I go find my room?"

Diz shook his head. "Down the hallway, third door on your left. And be sure to put your dishes in the kitchen, or Wally will throw them at your head." He spoke from experience.

Shoshanah grinned. "Is that why you wear bandages?"

Diz's reply was cut off by Wally's booming laugh, which was surprisingly loud from such a tiny man.

-

It didn't take long for Shoshanah to get settled. She had very few personal belongings, since her home was gone and she traveled around too much to own anything that couldn't fit her in bag. Mostly, she carried guns. That was her weapon of preference, and they worked very well, as long as the enemy didn't get close enough to whack her. Her husband, Henry Sparks, had taught her a few kicks and punches, but mostly she relied on the guns.

"WOMAN!"

Shoshanah, having never heard Wally's voice before, jumped a foot in the air. "What?" She shouted back.

"MOVE!" He waddled up and grabbed her arm—he had a very strong grip—and began dragging her out of her room and down the hallway.

"Let go!" Shoshanah snapped. She tried to pry her arm away, but got hit on the head with a spoon for her trouble.

"NO!" Wally roared and grinned. He paused, and pointed through a door. "DUDE!"

"Dude?" Shoshanah repeated.

"DUDE!" Wally insisted, waving his hand. "DUDE!"

From the door, Diz appeared. "He means me." Wally nodded, suddenly like an eager puppy. One could imagine the tail wagging; the tongue wasn't necessary as his was already hanging out. "I'm sorry about this, but I needed to talk to you, so I asked Wally to fetch you for me. I hadn't realized he would do something like this."

Shoshanah leaned against the doorframe. "No problem. What'd ya need?"

Diz gestured for them to go inside. In the room, there were a number of high-tech computers whizzing with their high-tech programs. Looking at the screens made Shoshanah feel faintly dizzy.

Diz sat down at one and motioned for the other two to take a seat. Shoshanah did just that, but Wally stood on his head instead.

"So," Diz began. "I had intercepted a message from Organization 13 only last night, and now I've finally decoded it." He pulled up another window, which, Shoshanah presumed, had the message on it. "There isn't much information, but the information is has is quite crucial. It mentions _Castle Oblivion."_ Here he paused. "You know what Castle Oblivion, is, correct?"

"Yes," Shoshanah said impatiently. "Get to the important part."

"That _is_ important," Diz protested. "Quite. It tells us where the Organization is striking next. And this message also tells us _who_."

Another pause, for dramatic effect, Shoshanah supposed. Finally, she asked, "Alright, _who?"_

Diz cleared his throat and recited, "Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene. Six members. _Six._"

"I can count," Shoshanah pointed out.

"But _six…_out of _14!"_

"I thought it was Organization _13._ Can these people count?"

"That's not the point…!"

"Fine. So you're saying there's something big going on at Castle Oblivion. Right?"

"Precisely," Diz approved. "And I want _you_ to figure out what it is, and stop it. I'll be coming, too, but first I need to finish up the defense program for this town." He tilted his head slightly, considering. "Wally will…go with you."

Shoshanah cast a look at Wally, whose face was turning purple from the blood rushing to his head. That guy and her against six fully trained Organization members.

What a fun first mission this was going to be.

Yes, there is a reason why Luxord is mentioned, not Axel. The Organization will come in the next chapter.


	2. Antihero

Now, since we've met the heroine and watched her get settled in and learn about her first mission, it's time to meet our hero. Of course, if he found out we called him a hero, he'd probably laugh his head off and then burn us at stake. So let's be sure not to tell him. To be on the safe side, we'll call him the antihero.

Axel sat on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. It about an hour, there was going to be a meeting, where Xemnas "decided" who would go on the next mission. As if he hadn't decided weeks ago. And Axel knew exactly who was to go, thanks to Xigbar and his eavesdropping skills. Sometimes it paid to have a good, if perhaps not great, relationship with other members, even if you secretly wished they'd go jump off the highest tower.

"Hey, Axel," his only friend, Roxas, asked from his place on the floor, where he ate sea-salt ice cream. "Are you all packed for your vacation?"

"If no one else has gone through and emptied my luggage, yeah." Suddenly, a thought struck Axel, and he sat up. "Why? _You_ haven't gone through my luggage, have you, Roxas?"

"You do that, not me." Roxas took another lick and sighed in evident bliss.

"That was a yes-or-no question, Roxas."

"In that case…no. I haven't, but I think Vexen did. He looked mighty please with himself when I saw him leaving this room, anyways."

"Son of a…" Axel began, running to his closet to find his bag. Roxas laughed.

"Kidding, Axel."

Axel let the door slam. "Of course you are. You know, Roxas, you are the most annoying little twit I have ever met. I wonder why we're friends."

Roxas grinned as ice cream dripped down his chin. "Because you're an annoying twit, too, Axel. At least, that's what Vexen says."

Axel chuckled. "You can't believe everything you hear. Especially when it's Vexen you're talking about."

The two Nobodies were laughing when there was a knock on the door. Xaldin popped his head in and frowned.

"#8, #13," he said. "Get your butts down here this instant. The meeting's starting."

"Not for another…" Axel checked the clock. "Half-hour, Xald."

"The Superior changed his mind on the start. Now get down here." He glared at Roxas. "And leave the ice cream behind."

Roxas stuck out his tongue as Xaldin left.

Axel struck an uncanny impersonation of Xaldin. "Come on, #13. Get your butt off that floor and follow me. And leave that ice cream behind! Organization members shouldn't eat during meetings; it makes our great and wise Superior feel boring! Got it memorized?"

Roxas snorted. "That last bit was out of character, 'Xaldin.'"

"Who cares?" Axel asked breezily. "If he was as awesome as me, he'd say it too. Got it—?"

"Stop!" Roxas threw his remaining ice cream at his friend and sprinted to the door before Axel could retaliate.

The two Nobodies, naturally, could have warped straight to the Room Where Nothing Gathers, but Axel felt like getting revenge for the meeting being bumped up, and he promised to buy Roxas more ice cream if he agreed to go with it. Roxas happily agreed to those terms, and was blissfully anticipating his feast later that evening.

"This is going to get under old Xemnas' skin," Axel said, satisfied. Then he paused, backtracked, and grabbed Roxas' hood before the oblivious teen got too far ahead.

"What?" Roxas asked, jerking his hood out of Axel's grasp.

"Look at that." Axel nodded towards a door, slightly ajar.

"So what? It's Saïx's room." Roxas started walking again.

"And Saïx is in the Room Where Nothing Gathers."

Roxas froze.

"So he's not there," Axel continued, hundreds of evil plans popping into his devious mind.

"Oh, no," Roxas groaned.

"Oh, yes."

"Oh, no, no, no."

"Oh, yes, yes, yes."

"I'm _not_ going to sabotage Saïx's room!" Roxas protested.

"I'll buy you ice cream every day for the rest of the month."

That changed things. "Nothing too bad," Roxas finally said. He followed Axel into the room, still feeling a little uneasy.

Saïx's room was painted pale blue, but it was actually hard to see the walls because of all the moon posters. Mostly full moons, but there were a few crescent and three-quarter moons as well. Leaning against the walls were a number of claymores, some very deadly looking, other so ridiculous the enemy would probably laugh himself to death before getting so much as a scratch.

Axel's plan was simple: destroy as much as possible before getting caught, and the more fire used, the better. Or, in Roxas' case, a sharpie worked just as well.

"Draw faces on the full moons," Axel ordered his minion. "Not nice, pleasant faces, though. Rude, evil faces."

Roxas' drawing skills were slight. "How do I…?"

"Just improvise, Rox." Axel lit the pillows on fire. "Got it memorized?"

"Aye, aye, Captain." Roxas began scribbling on one of the posters. He was clearly trying to draw an evil laughing face, but it didn't really look like anything.

"You can do better than that, Roxas." Axel torched one of the more silly claymores and grinned crookedly. "Have any spray paint?"

"Why would I just happen to have spray paint in my pocket?" Roxas tried to carefully draw a good malevolent face, failed miserably, and scribbled the whole thing black. "Why do you ask?"

"Paint the walls." Axel stood back, examining his handiwork. "I suppose fire will work just as well."

"You would have used fire anyways, Axel," Roxas said scornfully.

Axel's chuckled died when the two of them heard an angry shout.

"Axel!"  
Saïx came storming into his destroyed room.

"Oh, crap," Axel muttered. Louder, he said, "Hey, Saïx! How's life?"

"Yours is about it end," Saïx growled. He grabbed Axel's arm. "And you!" He snapped when Roxas tried to sneak out the door. He seized the back of Roxas' hood and began dragging the two of them out. "Come on. The Superior will have something to say to you two!"


	3. Villain

As much as we might wish there were no bad people in this world, or any world, or that they were all locked up on one world, we all must admit that without any villains, must stories would be pretty dull. And it is at last time to meet the villain of our story: Xemnas, the man Axel's working for, and the man Shoshanah's fighting against.

Saïx dragged the doomed Nobodies to the Room Where Nothing Gathered. "Xemnas!" He cried. "#8 and #13 have not only disobeyed your orders and skipped the meeting, but they have knowingly damaged a fellow member's room. Mine," he added in a deadly hiss.

Xemnas' hood was pulled up, so it was impossible to read his expression. "What do you have to stay for yourselves, #8, #13?"

Roxas shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing. He knew exactly what to say to make his end of the punishment less, but he couldn't put all that blame on Axel.

So Axel did it for him. "I made Roxas do it. It's not his fault. I wanted to destroy something, and Saïx's room was convenient."

"And that makes it acceptable?" Saïx growled. "You should have demolished your own room!"

He was already completely busted: a little more wouldn't hurt too much. "Yeah, well, I've been wanting to trash your room for the longest time, but I've never found the opportunity." Axel grinned and added, "Until now!"

Xemnas cut in before Saïx could respond. "Enough. 13, you will clean up #7's room, and then you will be assigned to KP for three weeks. Now take your seat." Once Roxas had done so, he continued, "8, you will help #13 clean #7's room, and then you will accompany #'s 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12 to Castle Oblivion,"

"_What?"_ Axel said incredulously.

"Luxord," Xemnas said, addressing another of the seated members. "You're off the hook. You can go on Axel's vacation, if you wish."

"I accept," Luxord said immediately.

"No!" Axel exclaimed. It was the worst punishment Xemnas could possibly have inflected. He had been so looking forward to that vacation, and instead he'd be stuck with Larxene, Marluxia, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion.

"It's my decision, Axel," Xemnas said impassively. "Take your seat."

Axel stood stock-still. "But…."

"I told you to take your seat, #8."

"You can't…."

"I'll be the judge of that. Now, will you sit down, or will I have to give you additional punishments?"

For a few tense seconds, Axel didn't move. But then, slowly, he went to sit down.

"Good. Now, Zexion, Lexeaus, and Vexen will take the basement in Castle Oblivion, and Marluxia, Axel, and Larxene will take the top floors. You all already know what your job is to do. Now, Marluxia, you will be in charge of the castle. Any questions?"

Silence.

"Good," Xemnas said again. "In that case, this meeting is over. Axel, I want to speak to you alone."

One by one, the Nobodies left the room, until only Axel and Xemnas remained. Roxas cast his friend a worried look, but Axel continued to stare stonily ahead.

Once Roxas left, Xemnas slide off his chair. "Now, Axel, don't look at me like that. It's your own fault."

"I worked hard for that time off, Superior," Axel said coldly.

"And you worked hard to blow it, too, didn't you? But I'll be honest with you, I think this worked out for the best."

Axel stiffened up even more. "How so, Superior?"

"You'll do much better at this assignment than Luxord would." Xemnas checked out the doors for any eavesdroppers, probably by the name of Xigbar. "It's a secret assignment. I've had my doubts about Marluxia and Larxene's loyalty. Gain proof of their treachery, and eliminate them."

Axel was getting interested against his will. "And if they proof loyal?"

"Then don't do anything. But I sincerely believe disloyal. I want this mission to be your top priority. Use any means necessary. And Axel," Xemnas added. "If you do this right, we'll see about that vacation when you get back."

Axel grinned widely. He got to kill two treacherous members and go on his vacation? Awesome! "Yes, Superior, sir!"

Shoshanah slipped on an Organization 13 cloak Diz had given her. Apparently, it would be harder for them to mark her as an enemy if she dressed like they did. Apparently, they didn't know what one another looked like. Once Shoshanah put the hood up, she admitted perhaps there was a fairly good chance they _didn't_ know what one another looked like. But only if they kept the hood up.

"WOMAN!"

Shoshanah turned to see Wally, also wearing an Organization cloak, waving one of her guns. He threw it down on her bed and bellowed, "KEEP!"

"Thanks, Wally." She slipped the gun into her pocket. "You have any weapons?"

He grinned and held up a spoon.

Shoshanah laughed. "Guess I should have seen that one coming, huh?"

He nodded eagerly.

"Great," Shoshanah smiled. Then she sighed. "Great. Do ya think we can pull this off?"

Wally shrugged and bit his spoon.

"Nice response. So, we'll all set to go?"

"DRIVE!" Wally roared.

"No," Shoshanah snapped. "I'm driving!"

"DRIVE!"

"No!"

"DRIVE!"  
"NO!"

It was going to be a long trip….


	4. Castle Oblivion

And so, here we are at Castle Oblivion. Nice place, plenty of rooms with great location, but it's a bit big to leave by yourself. If you buy it out, remember to bring family and friends, or just lots and lots of servants. But since I'm telling a story and not selling real estate, let's return to our antihero.

"So," Axel started. "This is Castle Oblivion, huh?"

Larxene sighed and leaned against his shoulder. "Obviously. New home for now. Wanna get settled in, Axel?" She said this rather flirtatiously.

Axel realized he could use that. "We get the top floor, right? Just the three of us?"

"Yep," Larxene said again. "And those losers get the basement." She leered at the "losers."

Zexion didn't bother looking at her. "At least I don't have to insult others to satisfy my own self-worth."

"What's that mean?!"

"Should I use small words while I explain it to you?"

"Enough!" Marluxia strolled between the bickering pair. "We have work to do. Zexion, Lexaeus, Vexen, get into the basement. We'll talk later."

Vexen did not take kindly to Marluxia's tone. "How dare you order me? I'm #4, and you're…."

"I was placed in charge of the castle by the Superior," Marluxia said coolly. "#1. If you want to argue, argue with him." Vexen shut up, but he still didn't look pleased. "Now," Marluxia continued. "Remember we get Naminé, and we get to use her."

"I remember, Marluxia," Zexion hissed. "Now, can we move, or do you have any more useless reminders for us?"

Axel raised his eyebrows very slightly. Tensions were already mounting, and the mission had barely begun. It could prove very difficult to earn Marluxia and Larxene's trust without betraying the Organization himself.

Wally, it turned out, was quite a good driver. If Shoshanah hadn't known any better, she'd have sworn they never took off.

"SEE?" Wally asked, while he turned expertly around a corner. "DRIVE!"

"I'll never doubt you again, Wally," Shoshanah replied. It was the closest she's ever admit to being wrong. She took a bite of an apple, then asked, "Did Diz teach you?"

"SELF!" Wally announced proudly. "BETTER THAN DUDE!"

"I bet you are." Shoshanah continued munching on her apple as she watched planets zoom by.

They passed in silence for a few moments. Then, Shoshanah asked as another planet came into view, "Is that Castle Oblivion?"

"YES!" Wally spun the wheel and accelerated. "ALMOST THERE!"

They flew closer and closer to the castle. Just before Shoshanah started wondering if Wally had remembered how to land, he pulled the ship smoothly out of the dive.

Shoshanah jumped out and looked around. All she saw was flat meadow and dark sky. "Where's the castle?"

Wally pointed forward. He began walking in that direction, with Shoshanah following close behind him.

"Since it'd be stupid to knock on the door," she began. "How ya think we should get in?'

Wally paused. Then he began miming climbing up a rope.

"Climb? And go through a window?"

He nodded.

Shoshanah shrugged. "Sure. I'm good with that. But I should warn you: I'm not a great climber."

Wally pursed his lips, thinking hard. Then he began walking again. "EASY, MAYBE?"

"I'll hope it's an easy climb. Otherwise, I might have to go through a first-story window. Ya know how to pick locks, Wally? In case they're locked?"

Wally shook his head.

"Okay. I can do that. What do we do when we get inside?"

Wally held up his spoon and grinned evilly.

Shoshanah laughed. "Couldn't have put it better myself! 'Kay: go through window, pick lock, kill members. Missing anything?"

He shook his head.

"Great. Let's go in through the back."

Axel realized very quickly it was easiest to just agree with whatever Larxene was saying without actually listening to her. He was lying on a couch, reading a book, and idly saying, "Yeah," and "Uh-huh," and sometimes, "Sure." It cut down an awful lot on boredom time.

But when Marluxia finally returned from his scouting, Axel put down his book and paid attention.

"Sora is near the castle with his two dumb friends," he reported. "Get Naminé ready; I'm going down to meet them."

Axel glanced towards the small, blond Nobody. She hadn't so much as a word since they had instructed her on her job. She just huddled in a corner and hugged her sketchbook tightly.

Wasn't this shaping up to be a pleasant time. He was stuck with a moping teenager girl, and two treacherous members, one of whom was a bitch and the other one was more narcissistic than Axel had ever seen one person.

"You ready, Naminé?"

"Yes," Naminé whispered. She looked rather frightened.

"Do exactly as we say, dear one, and everything well turn out well," Larxene said, her voice dripping with insincere kindness.

Once Marluxia left, Axel stood. "You look after Naminé. I need to take a stretch break."

"Don't take too long," Larxene advised him. "And don't let Marluxia catch you."

"I'm not doing anything I shouldn't." After all, what was the harm of getting a cup of coffee?


	5. That Wasn't Supposed To Happen

And so, as our antihero goes to get his coffee, our heroine is standing at the base of the castle, wondering what on earth she got herself into.

"You really think this is easy to climb?" She asked uncertainly.

"EASY!" Wally boomed. "YES!"

Shoshanah looked up again. Then she looked at Wally. Then she looked up. She repeated that cycle about five times, trying to figure out if Wally was serious or insane. She decided on insane.

"I can't climb up that."

"EASY!" Wally insisted.

"No. Not easy."

"VERY EASY!"

"NOT—EASY!"

Wally glared at her, and pushed her forward violently. She stumbled and crashed into the wall.

"CLIMB!" He snarled.

Shoshanah gave up. She would climb, and she would make a very poor impression doing it. Before she started, though, she pulled her hood over her face.

"I'm climbing. Are you happy?" She didn't wait for a response as she began the trek up the castle, wondering why they couldn't go through one of the first-story windows.

Her hands got sore only a few feet up. In all honesty, she was quite proud she hadn't fallen yet. One hand over the other, one at a time; she'd take this slowly. Her arms supported most of her weight, with her feet dangling down most of the time. She was very grateful she had worn pants under her cloak.

The window Wally had picked out gradually got closer and closer. There was a small ledge she could stand on while she picked the lock. Almost there. Closer. Closer. Closer.

As Shoshanah reached for the ledge, her other hand slipped. She fell a few feet, landing Wally's fingers. He didn't yell, as she had expected, but pushed her up again. This time she grabbed onto the ledge, noticing a few gashes on her right hand, staining her black gloves with blood. Very silently, she swore before pulling herself up onto the ledge.

Out of her pocket she took a lock pick and began fiddling with the window's lock. It was simple, and it didn't take long for her to swing it open. The window creaked loudly, and she winced.

She glanced down at Wally, and whispered, "I got it."

Wally nodded and pushed her in.

Shoshanah let out a completely involuntary shriek as his unexpected shove sent her careening into the room.

Just then, as luck would have it—bad luck, at least—someone warped right where Shoshanah was headed, and she crashed right into him.

Shoshanah let out another scream as the man swore loudly.

She realized she was lying on top of someone in a black cloak, almost exactly like hers. Her mind immediately jumped to Organization 13, and she scooted off and took a good look at him.

Her first impression was shock. She had never supposed a Nobody could look so…human. To be exact, if she hadn't known, or at least supposed, he was a Organization member, she would have assumed him to be human. His eyes were human, his body was human, his slightly bemused expression was human. There was nothing to suggest he was a Nobody like those dusks that had invaded her home planet; there were no physical similarities.

"Who are you?" She asked, frowning.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Who am I, says the woman who just came in through the window and crashed right into me. Who am I? No, no, no. I think the question is: who are you?"

Shoshanah thought quickly. On one hand, her name wasn't generally associated with Diz, and any of his works, because she was new. On the other hand, she didn't want this man knowing anything about her.

"You're new at this, aren't you?" The man asked. He chuckled briefly, then said, "I know you're not a member of the Organization, so you can take the hood off. You work for Diz, don't you? And you've never done this before."

Damn! She had completely forgotten about the cloak! Well, she could at play stupid. "I don't know what you're talking about. I found this cloak, and I was cold, so I put it on."

"Really." He seemed to smell the lie. "Then how come you came in through the second floor window instead of knocking at the door."

That was a very good question; Shoshanah thought quickly. She glanced behind her to see Wally had disappeared. She took a few deep but quiet breathes, and faced the man again. "I did knock, but on one answered. so I figured no one was here. I'm lost, and I thought I might find a map or something here."

He stood and crossed his arms. "Uh-huh. Is that so?"

"Completely," Shoshanah said without missing a beat.

"Then how come you won't tell me your name?"

Crap. "My name? It's…." Her mind blanked, and she blurted out her real name. "Shoshanah Sparks."

Now he was looking amused. "Shoshanah Sparks, huh? Should I call you Shoshanah, or Sparks?'

Why the hell did she care? "It doesn't matter. Either. Anything."

"Anything?" Now his green eyes lit up. "Okay, then. My name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

Axel? She didn't recognize that name. But he was clearly with Organization 13. Perhaps Diz had intercepted the wrong message. She responded to him, "Is it worth my time to memorize?"

Axel chuckled again. "I like to think so." He held out a hand.

Shoshanah took it warily, and he pulled her to her feet.

"So, Sparky…"

"_Sparky?"_

"You said I could call you anything," he retorted, his eyes dancing wildly. "Anyways, where're you going to?"

Of course that question would come up. Shoshanah said the first name that popped into her head. "Hollow Bastion."

"Hollow Bastion? Sweetheart, you really took a wrong turn. It's on the complete opposite side of the galaxy."

Shoshanah stuck her chin out. "Well, excuse me. I really didn't mean for this to happen, you know. Thank you for telling me, Axel."

"Great!" He smiled, but it wasn't a very pleasant smile. "Now, why don't you climb back out the window and go on your way? After all, I would hate to keep you."

"I'm sure ya wouldn't," she muttered.

There was an awkward pause as each one sized up the other. Finally, Axel said, "Well?"

"Well what?" Shoshanah replied automatically.

"Are you going?"

"Oh!" She felt rather stupid. "Yeah. But…um, can I go out the front door? I don't like climbing very much."

He shifted his weight onto one leg and then the other. "No."

Ah ha! Now she could ask what was going on! "Why not?"

Axel looked at her coldly. "Because I said so, that's why."

"That's a terrible reason."

"Sparky," he sighed. "It really has nothing to do with you. And you'll be happier if you don't know, trust me."

Shoshanah took a step back; one more, and she'd be on the ledge, ready to jump out if needed. "Is it really that bad?"

"I never said that. Now, shoo."

She hated being ordered by a known enemy. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"I'm advising you. That's all." He took a step forward and outstretched his arms to the walls. "You don't have to get so touchy."

Shoshanah's instincts screamed to pull out a gun and shoot him. Instead, she rested on hand on the handle of her closet. "I'm not getting touchy! Back away from me!"

"I don't like being told what to do, either," he said in a deadly voice.

Shoshanah saw what he was going to do seconds before it happened. She whipped out her gun and fired.


	6. Deadly Enemies

It's a very good thing our antihero is a Nobody; Shoshanah's shot hit him directly where his heart should have been. Another lodged itself in his shoulder, while the third grazed his cheek.

Shoshanah had no time to celebrate. A sudden burst of fire sent her backwards out the window. She stumbled on the ledge, and fell. A fall from the second story isn't fatal, but it hurt like hell. She landed flat on her back, with burns on her arms and chest.

Axel didn't allow her time to recover; he jumped down after her, with his twin chakrams flashing through the air. He landed nimbly, like a cat, in front of her, and swung one chakram out. It caught our heroine on her already burned chest.

Shoshanah fired wildly, wincing back tears of pain and anger. She missed, but the follow-up shot hit him in the stomach. Axel stumbled backwards, giving Shoshanah an opportunity.

She let off another shot before kicking him behind the knees. The bullet missed again, but the kick sent Axel forward onto the ground. He rolled to escape her second kick, and flipped back onto his feet. Like lightning, he threw one chakram out, catching Shoshanah's arm.

Shoshanah screamed in fury as her right arm hung uselessly at her side. Blood trickled down and her gun slipped out of her hand. She backed up to avoid Axel's second chakram, this one burning with enchanted fire, but she wasn't lucky. It sliced her stomach, and she collapsed to the ground. Axel won the battle.

He recovered both chakrams, and ran forward to finish the defeated woman. But something made him pause.

A spoon flew out from nowhere, catching the Nobody on the forehead. Axel blinked, and picked it up curiously. "A spoon?" A thought struck him. "Wait a second…."

"STOP!" Wally roared, launching himself at Axel. Axel retreated backwards, as any sane person would have done.

"You damn liar!" he spat at Shoshanah as he dodged Wally's continued assault. "You are working for Diz!"

Shoshanah didn't get why he was surprised at her lying about that, but decided not to comment. Watching her ally throw another spoon at Axel, she slowly reached for another of her many guns.

Axel dodged another of Wally's spoons and threw one back at him at the same time. Wally caught the spoon out of midair, and twirled it around his back before letting go. It spun wildly towards the redheaded man. However, it wasn't particularly difficult to avoid. The bullet that came speeding towards him was another matter.

Axel staggered backwards, blood pouring from his new wound on his arm. He cursed loudly before warping away. And just in time, too, as another of Shoshanah's bullets came flying at the space he had just abandoned.

"COWARD!" Wally bellowed. "BASTARD! COWARD!"

Shoshanah stumbled forward. "Is…is he dead?" She gasped.

"NO!" Wally roared. "COWARD!"

She hung her head. Now Axel would warn all the other members, if they hadn't figured out there had been a battle by themselves. "Thank you, Wally," she said finally. "You saved my life."

Wally softened slightly. "FRIENDS ALWAYS HELP!"

Shoshanah smiled very slightly. "Of course they do."

And now we return to our antihero, who, in all honesty, isn't much better shape than our heroine. Axel was better at coping with his injuries than Shoshanah, but being shot four times was painful for anyone.

"What happened, Axel?" Larxene gasped. "You look like hell."

Axel ignored that unflattering description. "Intruders. Down at the grounds. Work for Diz."

"Who are they, Axel?" Marluxia said businesslike.

"Monkey-Man, one."

Larxene gave a loud groan.

"And a new girl. Never took her hood off; couldn't see her face."

"Sit down, Axel," Marluxia sighed. "They attacked you?"

Axel nodded. "She shot me. Four times. And that doesn't include all the injuries inflected by hand." Despite the pain, he was quite impressed the woman had managed to put up such a fight.

"And you lost?" Larxene snorted.

"Won against Sparky. Then Monkey-Man came in."

"Sparky?" Marluxia frowned. "Well, I'll have to go pay these intruders a visit. Larxene, stay with Axel and Naminé."

"Get help from the basement," Axel advised. Marluxia nodded in response before warping away.

"Tell me she's in worse shape than you," Larxene giggled.

Axel glared at her. At the moment, he wasn't in the mood to be polite with her. "Told you I beat her. Got it memorized?"

"I was just saying, Axel. Don't get so touchy." Larxene didn't wait for a reply; she turned to Naminé. "Naminé, could you mess with this Sparky's memories?"

"She's not connected to Sora," Naminé whispered. She wanted Sparky to defeat Marluxia, Axel could tell.

And depending on whether Marluxia took Axel's advise or not, her wish might come true.

Wally crashed through the front door with Shoshanah limping at his heels. Each of them kept their weapons out and ready for use. But the entrance hall was completely empty. It was white, almost blindingly so, with a door at the very opposite end.

"Should we go through it?" Shoshanah asked after she caught her breath.

Wally nodded, and approached it with caution. But before he could touch it, it swung open. He jumped back, with his spoon outstretched. Shoshanah pointed her gun straight at the now open door.

But no people in black cloaks appeared. Instead, a brown-haired boy holding a giant silver key followed closely by an upright dog with a shield and a duck waving a magical staff.


	7. Keyblade Master

Sorry to pop any bubbles of hope you might be forming, but Naminé isn't really going to be major in this story. She's just sort of...there.

-

Our heroine had never actually seen Sora, the keyblade master, before, so it's quite understandable why she didn't relax after determining he wasn't a member of Organization 13. Wally, however, did know what Sora looked like, and so he quickly lowered his spoon and bellowed, "FRIEND!"

Shoshanah slowly lowered her gun. Sora tilted his head.

"We're friends? But then…" he turned to look at Shoshanah. "Aren't you the guy that tricked us in here? You look terrible."

"What?" Shoshanah remembered she still had her hood up. "No. No, I'm not with them. I just fought one."

"You mean there's more?" Sora groaned.

The duck, however, wasn't so quick to believe the strangers. "How can we trust you?" He quacked loudly. "You might be tricking us!"

The dog let out a rather funny noise. "They don't look like Heartless."

"We're not," Shoshanah explained. "We're humans, both of us. The 'guy' that you meet was a Nobody, a member of Organization 13."

"And they're with the Heartless, right?" Sora moaned. "I thought we've finished them all off!"

Shoshanah blinked. "Sure. My name's Shoshanah, and this is Wally." Wally waved. "What're your names?"

"I'm Sora," Sora said. "And that's Donald, and Goofy." He pointed to the duck and dog in that order.

"Nice to meet you," Shoshanah said politely. "I don't think we have much time, though. The Organization might be here soon."

"Right on that one, woman," a cold voice rang out.

As one, the five new allies turned to face two Organization members. One had his hood up, but the other's was down to reveal a long, thin face and long, light brown hair. There was a long silence before Sora spoke up. "Hey! You're the guy that tricked us in here!"  
"Marluxia," Marluxia said as an introduction. "And this is Vexen." He turned to Wally and Shoshanah. "You two have caused quite enough trouble. I give one last chance to leave before we kill you."

"I don't think so, buddy," Shoshanah chortled. She wasn't in very good condition to really make effective threats, but she wasn't about to get bossed out by this man.

"If you fight me, you'll die. You have to know this, Sparky, unless you're completely idiotic."

"Sparky?" Shoshanah exclaimed. "_Damn_ that Axel!"

"I actually with her on that one," Vexen ventured. "I really couldn't put it better myself. Good job, Sparky."

She raised her gun and fired twice. "My name is _Shoshanah!"_

Our antihero was not enjoying himself. Larxene was not good company for an injured person, and she seemed to think him not being able to move very well was the same as him wanting to listen to her complaining.

"…And do you know what Vexen, that _idiot_, did next? I mean, seriously, he is _such_ a loser. I mean, whenever I just, you know, _look_ at him, I think, like, what a dork."

Axel groaned to try and show his disinterest, but Larxene didn't take the hint.

"And, you know who's just as bad, if not even worse? I mean, Zexion, he tries to act so freakin' cool and smart, but he's really just a pain in rear, and a know-it-all. And you know how much I _hate_ know-it-alls? They're just as bad as idiots, like Vexen. And _Zexion,_ he thinks he's so _this,_ and he thinks he's so _that,_ but really, he's just, like, as much a loser as Vexen. You know?"

She paused to breathe, and Axel fully intended to take advantage of that moment.

"I'm gonna go check on Marluxia."

Larxene gave him her _are you an idiot _look. "Why? We can just watch from here."

"Yeah," he admitted. "But he might need some help. Look after Naminé, will ya?"

Naminé looked like she wanted to protest being left alone with Larxene, but kept her mouth shut. Axel almost felt sorry for her.

The five allies split themselves into two groups, to fight the two Nobodies. Goofy and Donald automatically went with Sora to fight Marluxia, while Wally joined our heroine in her battle against Vexen.

"You won't win against me!" Vexen taunted, freezing Wally's spoon out of his hand.

Wally bellowed in anger, and ran wildly at the Nobody. Vexen warped behind him, and sent icicles flying towards his back.

Shoshanah ran at her friend, forcing him down to avoid the ice. Instead of hitting Wally, which was clearly Vexen's intent, they scraped against Shoshanah's hair and check. Considering she was still recovering from the burns from Axel's battle, in actually felt rather nice.

Marluxia, on the other hand, was not aiming to kill. He still wanted to use Sora, and only wanted his opponents to be knocked out for a time. He succeeded fairly quickly with Donald, who wore himself out pretty fast. Sora, on the other hand, would not be gotten rid of so easily. His keyblade cut and chopped all the flowers Marluxia sent his way.

"Sora!" Marluxia yelled, rather desperately. "If you give up, you're friends will be spared! If you don't, we'll kill them all!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Marluxia," Vexen snapped. "I'm still a senior member!"

"I'm trying to help you, idiot!"

"I don't need your help!"

Which was quite an ironic statement, since one of Shoshanah's bullets hit his hand right at that moment. Vexen dropped his shield in pain.

"Ouch!"

A wave of ice blasted Wally and Shoshanah backwards while Vexen tried to recover himself.

Sora might have been fighting Marluxia, but the opportunity he saw was too great to pass up. He dodged under Marluxia's scythe, and ran at Vexen's unprotected back. One slice from his keyblade, and Vexen fell forward.

"No!" Vexen shrieked. He disappeared into black smoke, and was gone.

Marluxia realized he was alone in this battle. He took a few steps back, watching Goofy and Wally advance on him. Sora stayed behind with Shoshanah and Donald, healing as many of their injuries as he could.

"Hey! Room for me?" A voice asked lazily.


	8. Human

The first battle in this chapter was really fun to write, even though, looking back, I might have gone a little over-the-top. But hey: this isn't supposed to be exactly believable.

-

A second confrontation for our antihero and heroine! Exciting, huh? That is, it would be if they were both in peak physical condition, bloodthirsty as rabid wolves, and fighting on top of a explosion volcano with the fate of the world balance. And in the end, after one's defeated the other, they both get trampled by a rebellious herd of fire-breathing cows.

But, then, nothing's perfect. I guess I'll continue telling the real story.

Shoshanah pointed her gun at his forehead. "You ran the last time, coward."

"_I'm_ the coward?" Axel raised his eyes to the heavens. Actually, the ceiling, but that doesn't sound quite as nice. "I'm not the one who needs to fight two against one!"

Shoshanah took the bait; she knew she did. Blast that pride. "Fine, coward. Just me against you?"

Axel summoned his chakrams. "Great."

"And no warping away when you lose?"

"I wasn't the one who lost last time."

No wonder pride was one of the seven deadly sins. It probably had a higher death rate than the others. "I am so going to kill you!"

Axel spun his chakrams around. "Sounds good."

"Let's do this."

"Let's."

Donald and Sora watched in amazement as those two idiots—er, fighters, limped and stumbled towards each other. Considering that Axel was feeling nice, and was only there because he wanted to get away from Larxene, he let Shoshanah make the first move. And that's just what she did—firing her gun.

_Click._

"Aw, crap," Shoshanah muttered, trying a few more times with no success.

"Problems?" Axel asked.

"Give me a few seconds." She threw that gun away and dug out another one.

_Click._

"You've got to be kidding!" She exclaimed. "I can't believe this!"

She didn't any more luck with the third or fourth ones either.

"How many guns do you have?" Axel wondered aloud in amazement.

"Lots," Shoshanah replied, trying out her fifth. That one worked, firing right over Axel's head, deflating his hair slightly. "Yes!"

"Okay," Axel said. "Let's try this again, shall we?"

He attempted to spring at her, but stuttered to a painful halt. Shoshanah threw one of her bullet-less guns at him, wincing as a burn on her throwing arm acted up. The gun missed Axel by about a mile. Axel summoned a fire circle, but could only keep in burning for five seconds.

Sora raised his eyebrows higher and higher as he watched the "battle." "This is really sad," he remarked to Donald, who nodded. "I think they're gonna kill themselves."

Shoshanah tripped over her boots, and fell to the ground. Axel's chakram soared right her head had been, before returning and smacking him on the chest.

"Oof!" He gasped, falling down.

Shoshanah staggered to her feet, stumbling towards him. She shot her gun once, which hit the floor next to Axel's head.

"Watch where you're firing that thing!" He snapped, attempting to get back up.

She froze in surprise. "I thought we're trying to kill each other."

"'Try' being to key word here," Sora muttered.

Axel glared at Sora. "So we're trying to kill each other. That doesn't you can't aim. Got it memorized?'

"Do you just like saying that, or do you really mean it?" Shoshanah asked.

"Never mind that! Let's get back to business."

If Sora didn't know any better, he'd have sworn the two of them took turns attempting to hit each other. Then they'd dodge the other's attack, which missed them by several feet anyways because the other didn't have the energy to keep it up long enough for it to reach. And the whole time, they kept yelling and swearing at each other. If it wasn't so pathetic, it'd be really quite amusing.

"Maybe I should just cure Shoshanah," Sora suggested. "Then she could end this."

"Better her than the redhead," Donald agreed.

But curing was not necessary. One of Shoshanah's bullets finally hit Axel in the leg. Axel collapsed to the ground, panting. Shoshanah staggered over to him, and pointed her gun between his eyes.

Sora and Donald held their breath, waiting for the shot that would mark the end of Axel's existence. Axel waited for it, too. Shoshanah waited for it. But it didn't come.

Shoshanah stared straight into his green eyes. She told herself to shoot, screamed at herself to pull the trigger. She reminded herself that was the right thing to do, that he was only a Nobody, that he should not exist. But something as she stared into his eyes, something kept her from listening to herself.

She couldn't pull the trigger.

Shoshanah dropped the gun and staggered backwards. She felt weak, a failure. She had gone to Diz so she could destroy the Nobodies, and now she couldn't even kill this one, even when he had so clearly tried to kill her. What was wrong with her?

The other three in the room were clearly wondering the same thing. Axel's eyebrows were high above his eyes as he got to his feet. Sora and Donald didn't move, too shocked and confused at what they had just witnessed.

Shoshanah ran as fast as her sore legs could carry her. She ran up the stairs, where Marluxia, Goofy, and Wally had disappeared up. But she was only four steps up when a warm hand closed around her wrist.

Sora looked at her with serious concern in his bright blue eyes. "Shoshanah? Is something wrong?"

Shoshanah gasped, shaking her head. Something happened, and she couldn't find the words to explain it.

"You can't kill him?"

Her head kept shaking. "He…he just…he's so…."

"So what?" Sora asked curiously. "What is it?"

Shoshanah found the word she was looking for. "Human. He's so human."

Sora frowned. "He's not human. At least, that's what you said before. He's a Nobody, like a Heartless."

Shoshanah jerked her wrist away from his hand. "I know! He's a Nobody! But…he still _looks_ human. And…these people…they…they don't _want_ to be like this, don't they? I mean, who really _chooses_ to loose their heart? It's just…." She gave a wild laugh. "It's ridiculous! He's been hurt by the Heartless more than I have! And…." Shoshanah ran out of steam. She took a deep breath and collapsed against the wall.

Sora couldn't think of anything to say, so he turned around. Axel stood at the base of the stairs, watching Shoshanah with an inscrutable expression. Shoshanah didn't seem to notice him, so he spoke up.

"Hey, Sparky. Next time, it's my turn."

Shoshanah looked up and frowned. "Your turn? Your turn to what?'

"My turn to win, of course. Got it memorized?"


	9. Party Time

Quite understandably, our villain was not too pleased with what happened at Castle Oblivion. Not only did he lose Vexen, but he failed to lose Marluxia and Larxene, and he didn't get any control over Sora and Riku. And of all the five survivors, our antihero was going to get hit the hardest.

"You had the opportunity to kill this Sparky, and instead you let her go and ruin everything!" He snapped. "If it wasn't for your stupidity, we could have had Sora! And then, of course, Marluxia had to get the basement involved, so they missed their chance to get Riku! Then Sora killed Vexen, and not Marluxia or Larxene. And what do you do? You _lose_ to that Sparky again!"

"Excuse me, Superior," Axel said coldly. "But I didn't lose to her the first time. The Monkey-Man got in the way, and you know what he's like."

"Yes," Xemnas agreed. "He's like you. He botched up a chance to kill Larxene, too." He sank down in his seat. "Really, Axel. I give you a chance to make up your conduct, and you blow it! Go away; I'll call you when I've thought of a suitable punishment."

Axel warped back to his room where he found Roxas waiting for him.

"Well?" The teenager said. "Tell me everything. Who's this Sparky Marluxia keeps talking about? What'd she do, what's she like?"

"She shot me a lot," Axel replied, plopping on his bed.

"Is she pretty?" Roxas pressed, very much an adolescent boy.

Axel shrugged. "Dunno. She never took her hood off."

"Wow!" Roxas looked strangely impressed. "A mystery girl!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "Only _you_ would be happy about that, Rox. The rest of us, however, prefer to know who we're fighting."

Roxas thought over what Axel just said. "That doesn't make much sense."

"Too bad. If anyone comes looking for me, say I'm stealing away to go on my vacation."

Roxas couldn't tell if he was serious or not. "And where will you be?"

Axel strolled to the door. "Like I said: I'm stealing away to go on my vacation. Commit it to memory."

Shoshanah disposed of her Organization cloak the second all the Nobodies had left. She figured Diz wouldn't mind about not getting it back, considering the condition it was in.

Diz was too happy to care about the ruined cloak. "Congratulations, Shoshanah and Wally! You completely sabotaged the Organization's plans! You saved Sora and Riku!"

"I didn't need saving," Riku said sullenly. In the brief time Shoshanah had meet him, she came to realize he resented her interference. He probably wanted to take down all six members by himself.

"I didn't saving, either!" Sora said brightly. He, unlike Riku, was absolutely thrilled with the outcome. "I didn't need saving, and I saved them from the creepy ice-guy!" That must've been the reason.

"Well," Diz said. "Whatever happened, with Vexen gone and his plan destroyed, Xemnas will be most displeased, and that's the important part."

"That's the important part?" Shoshanah repeated. "Pissing off this Xemnas, not trying to help save the world?'

"Those two objectives go hand in hand," Diz explained. "We're well on our way to destroying Organization 13!"

Sora cast a look at Shoshanah. Neither he nor Donald had told Diz about Shoshanah's second fight with Axel or the conversation that followed, and Shoshanah was not about to enlighten him. It would completely spoil his spirits, if nothing else.

Sora, Goofy, and Donald were all prepared to go their own way to stop the Organization. Riku, however, decided to stay with Diz, and would join him in his new base on Twilight Town.

"It's important we go _there,_" Diz stressed. "We need to find someone."

Everyone else just went with that enigmatic statement. It was much easier when Diz promised a party upon arrival at the new base.

"Well," Shoshanah began. "The new base is…awfully…um, big?"

"That about sums it up," Riku agreed.

Twilight Town mansion _was_ large, but completely rundown and falling apart. It would probably take forever to take it relatively livable again, but Diz was hopeful they could manage it.

"Of course," Shoshanah said to Riku. "When he says 'we', he really means you, Wally, and me."

But that was a minor annoyance at the moment. More importantly, the party Diz had promised.

It was going to be a very interesting night.


	10. Bad Timing

Our antihero was busy taking a very nice, long walk around his favorite part of Twilight Town. He fully intended to enjoy it because as soon as Xemnas realized he had left, he would be grounded to the World That Never Was for the next six months.

He passed a group of teens hanging out under by the station. One of them looked at him curiously, but Axel just speed right by. Part of the reason why he wanted to take this walk was to avoid talking to the many idiots in the world.

Axel made a sudden, and rather random, decision to get out of the main town and into the woods. He turned and walked, almost ran, in that direction, knocking over a short, chubby boy in a red jersey along the way.

The woods were utterly silent. There weren't even any birds chirping or wind blowing. It was all rather unnerving, or would have been if Nobodies were capable of getting scared. Axel, instead, leaned against a tree and closed his eyes. It would be nice to take a nap right there.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a high laugh. Axel squinted out one eye. There was a pause, and someone appeared stumbling down the path. Two somebodies, actually. A thin, medium-height somebody and a short, round somebody. The short, round somebody collapsed behind some bushes, but the thin, medium-height somebody continued down the path.

The somebody was close enough for Axel to determine them being a she with long blond hair and a rather drunken air.

She caught sight of him. "Hey, Axel!"

Her voice sounded familiar. Axel frowned before remembering. "Sparky?"

She hiccupped.

Axel stood straight and folded his arms. "Are you drunk?"

"I don't know…." She sat down on the road and grinned at him. "Am I?"

Those were stupid questions, Axel's and Sparky's. Of course she was drunk. Only an idiot would doubt that. "You are very drunk, Sparky. How much have you been drinking?"

She flopped onto the ground. "Dunno. A lot?"

Another question would be _what_ had she been drinking, and whether she had any left, but Axel decided she probably wouldn't remember the answer to those ones either.

"How does your hair stand up like that?" Shoshanah wondered, staring cross-eyed at him.

That was a question one could ignore, and one Axel did ignore. "Is Diz staying here now? And don't say you don't know. Got it memorized?"

She struggled to her feet. "I think I'm gonna throw up."

"Hmm. Well, throw up over there," he said, gesturing to a place far away and hidden.

Shoshanah nodded, trying to look serious but failing miserably. She fell forward, nearly landing on Axel.

Axel jumped back. "What is it with you and falling on top of me?"

"Maybe I just love you," she hiccupped.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Axel shook his head, amused. "Never mind. I'm leaving. See ya, Sparky."

"I thought we're supposed to fight."

"You're in no condition to fight, sweetheart."

Shoshanah let out a high-pitched giggle. "You called me 'sweetheart!'"

"Brilliant observation. Now, go find Diz and let him take care of you. I think you need it."

"Diz passed out." Shoshanah began to dance.

"Then Wally…."

"Wally passed out over there," she gestured to the short, round man behind the bushes, and then continued with her improv dance.

"Is there anyone who _hasn't _passed out, Sparky?" Axel asked. Maybe he should tell Xemnas all their enemies were out drunk.

"Riku didn't drink, because he's too young." She hiccupped and spun around. "This is fun! Wanna join?" She held out a hand.

Axel watched her sway back and forth. "I don't dance. Demyx dances; I don't. And you're going to hurt yourself if you keep that up."

"Don't be a killjoy," Shoshanah giggled. "Come on; it's fun!" Her legs buckled briefly, but she managed to regain her balance.

He grinned. "Thanks for offering, but I don't want to ruin my killjoy status."

She grinned back, and fell on her rear.

"Hey, Axel. Is this a bad time?"

Axel turned. Demyx stood behind him, looking after confusedly at Shoshanah.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Demyx, Sparky. Sparky, Demyx."

Clearly, that name triggered something in Shoshanah's currently muddled mind. "Demyx!" She cried, grabbing his hand. "Let's dance!"

Demyx shrieked. "No! No! Xemnas wanted…no, really, I don't…."

"Axel says you dance," Shoshanah protested.

"But I can't…."

Axel took pity on the struggling couple. He pried Shoshanah's hand off of Demyx's arm. "Leave the poor guy alone, Sparky. What'd Xemnas want, Demyx?"

Demyx moved back behind him. "He says if you don't get back this instant, he'll increase your punishment ten times seven, whatever that means."

"It means seventy times, Demyx. Do that math." Axel put an arm around Demyx's shoulders. "Tell Xemnas to give me…ten, fifteen more minutes. He won't be disappointed." Lowering his voice, he added, "She works for Diz."

"I know that," Demyx said, shrugging Axel's arm off. "Well, it's your neck, not mine." He warped away.

Axel turned his attention back to Shoshanah. "So, Sparky, tell me: how's things working with Diz?"

She smiled crookedly. "Great! How's the Organization?"

"Oh, fabulous." He reached out a hand to steady her when she nearly fell into him again. "Got any fun plans?"

"Not really," Shoshanah hiccupped. "We just came here 'cause Diz wants to meet someone here. Dunno who—I getta fix up the mansion. What're you doing lately?"

The chances of her remembering what he'd say were slim, but Axel decided against taking any chances. "Oh, nothing important. I'm sure what you've got to say is much more interesting." He didn't exactly like taking advantage of Sparky in her drunken state, but it was an almost guaranteed way out of punishment when he told Xemnas everything.

"Riku doesn't drink," Sparky said randomly. "Wanna dance?"

"Nah, I gotta go. Listen, Sparky, it was great talking to you. I'll see you later."

Shoshanah hiccupped again, and nodded. "Bye-bye, Axel!" She giggled. "You have a really funny name! Axel, Axel, Axel!"

That was our antihero's cue to leave.


	11. Reason 165 Why You Shouldn't Get Drunk

I was going to change the title of this, but then I got lazy and changed my mind, so I didn't.

-

Our heroine woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. She groaned, and fell off the bed, wincing at the thud she made. Making her way across the floor on her hands and knees, trying to create as little noise as possible, Shoshanah threw on a pair of old jeans and a blouse with the right sleeve torn off.

"Need anything?" An amused voice said from the doorway.

Shoshanah squinted in the bright light to make out Riku's form. He wore an incredibly irritating smirk on his face.

"Shut up," she groaned. She grabbed her Organization cloak and threw it over her head to shield her eyes and ears.

Riku watched her huddled form for a moment before saying helpfully, "This is why I don't drink."

"Shut up," Shoshanah said again. "Ya don't drink cause ya underage."

"True," he admitted. "But after seeing what alcohol did to Diz, I don't think I'll start even when it's legal. I brought you this, by the way," he added, holding out a cup of hot tea. "I don't know if it'll help, but at least it doesn't have any alcohol in it."

Shoshanah shoved the cloak off her, and struggled towards the tea. "Thanks, Riku."

Riku nodded. "Once you're able, everyone needs to meet in the dining room and plan our next move. All right? We can't get cocky just because we won once."

She waved her free hand irritably. "I've been told all that before, kid, and by people much older and more experienced than you, so don't go around preachin' to me. I don't need it."

"If you say so," Riku shrugged, unfazed. He left Shoshanah to her tea and her headache.

Shoshanah kneaded her forehead. Something was tugging at her memory—something important that had happened last night. But what happened? They started the celebration…she got drunk…she went on a walk with Wally…Wally passed out…

Her mind blanked after that. Something important happened, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember what it was.

"You're certain of all this?" Our villain asked our antihero carefully.

"Positive," Axel assured him. "She was drunk, sure, but I don't think she was lying."

"Hmm…." If Xemnas had a goatee, he'd be stroking it right then. "Riku joining forces with Diz, that isn't good for us."

"But at least we know now where they're hiding," Axel reminded. "Sparky let slip about fixing up a mansion, and there's only one mansion in Twilight Town."

"And Diz is expecting to meet someone there," Xemnas mused. "Who could that be?"

"Search me," Axel shrugged. "Can I have my vacation now?"

Xemnas' eyes snapped up. "Not yet, Axel. You may not be in Castle Oblivion anymore, but you still have your mission to carry out."

"Which is that?" Axel began, and then, "_Oh,_ right. Find traitors, kill traitors, _then_ vacation, depending on the job I do, of course. How'm I doing so far?"

"You are quite correct, Axel." And then, Xemnas attempted his first joke in weeks. "But unfortunately, your mission is not going so well. By the way, could you perhaps meet up with that Sparky again? You seem to be on friendly terms with her, and that could prove useful for us."

"No problem, boss." 'Friendly terms' might've been a stretch, but it had been more of a request than a full-out order, so Axel didn't feel the need to correct him.

"So, what happened?" Roxas asked the second Axel returned to his room. "Are you seriously busted?"

"No, I'm not. And why do you always eat your ice cream in my room? Don't you have your own to go to?"

Roxas licked the ice cream with exaggerated slowness. "But it tastes so much better when I eat it here."

"That is disgusting, you repulsive brat."

"Hey!"

It was late afternoon when all the allies were finally able to meet without at least one covering their ears or eyes, or running out of the room to throw up. Riku, at first, had only smirked whenever one of his comrades moaned and groaned, but after awhile, he began to become irritable and impatient.

"Well," Diz said. "I heard from some of my sources, that the keyblade master is currently in Hollow Bastion. I think he might need some of our help."

"I'm not going," Riku said immediately. "I can't face Sora the way I am."

"No," Diz agreed. "And I want you here. I think Shoshanah should go. She's the best candidate, after all."

Shoshanah groaned. "Why me?"

"Because you're the best candidate." Diz said again.

"How?"

He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, and closed it. They watched that process for a minute before he finally said, "Just…trust me. You're the best candidate."

She ran a hand through her hair, and sighed. "Sure. Fine, whatever. If that's really the best answer you can come up with…."

"It's decided, then," Diz said grandly, ignoring her last sentence. "Wally, I want you the mess you made last night."

Wally gaped at him as Riku pointed out, "You made _that_ mess. He made the one outside."

"I most certainly did _not!"_ Diz said in an offended tone.

"I saw you!" Riku insisted. "It was not pretty."

And now, we shall leave our heroine and her allies as this conversation continues, and we shall rejoin antihero as he is given a new mission with—guess who?—Larxene.

"What are you doing again?" Larxene said loudly.

"We're finding and killing…what's his name?…Leon, and all his friends, who are fighting against us in Hollow Bastion."

"I know who Leon is," Larxene sighed. She leaned back in her seat. "Why do we have to go? We just got back from Castle Oblivion!"

Axel didn't answer. Xemnas had told him the exact reason why he and Larxene were going—Xemnas thought Larxene's tongue might looser alone with Axel than with Marluxia—but there was no way she could find out about that.

"And if we meet that Sparky, we can kill her, right?" Larxene continued.

Axel shook his head stiffly. "I have to pump her for information." His voice was colder than he meant it to be, something Larxene was quick to notice.

"What's the big deal, Axel? I didn't know; you don't have to get so touchy."

He opened his mouth to reply, but realized he didn't have an answer, and closed it with a snap.

She smirked slightly, and then frowned. "Why was Xemnas so insisted we flew there in a gummi ship instead of just warping?"

Once again, Axel knew the answer, but there was no way he'd tell it to Larxene. Xemnas wanted them to fly so Axel could have some more time to get Larxene to talk. But so far, all he had gotten was a headache and an urge to kill the woman without waiting for any proof.

"No idea," he said in answer to her question. "Maybe we're supposed to enjoy the scenery."

"Unlikely," Larxene snorted. She tapped out a brief tune on the dashboard. "Well, there it is, anyways. I guess it doesn't matter now."

Axel heaved a silent sigh of relief as he pulled into the Hollow Bastion landing port.


	12. Electric Storm

While Sora was absolutely thrilled to see our heroine, the exact same could not be said for some of his friends. Yuffie and Aerith seemed to like her, but Cid for one seemed to resent the help.

"I don't see why we need some strange little girl pokin' her nose around in our business!" He said.

"I'm twenty-four!" Shoshanah said, irked by the 'little' comment.

Leon came bursting in through the door at that moment, saving everyone from Cid's retort. He was panting, and a few cuts and gashes decorated his face.

"I got into a fight!" He snapped at their surprised expressions. "There's some people in black cloaks wreaking havoc on the town. I could use some help!"

That was enough for Shoshanah and Sora to follow him out the door.

"Could you tell which Organization members they were?" Sora asked curiously.

"How should I know?" Leon replied testily. "I don't bother trying to get close to my enemies." He jerked to a sudden halt where the path split.

"Which way did you come from?" Shoshanah asked, stopping next to him.

"Does it matter?" He asked, making a wide sweep with his hands. "They're everywhere!"

"Dusks…" Sora groaned.

Shoshanah made a quick decision. "I can take care of them," she said. "You two go find the leader."

Sora nodded and sprinted off down the left path.

"Wait!" Leon yelled. "You're going to wrong way!" Sora, however, was too far away to hear. Leon swore violently, but quietly, and chased after the runaway boy.

Shoshanah pulled out two of her guns, and began firing. Dusks weren't particularly difficult to kill, but there were some many of them, it was quite overwhelming.

She dodged one's quick but clumsy attack, and brought the handle of her gun crashing against its head. The Dusk fell back, confused, but others quickly zoomed in to take its place. Shoshanah kicked out wildly, knowing it was quite unlikely she'd be able to miss with so many enemies around her. Her foot caught one on the chest, sending it backward into at least three of its fellows.

Without warning, the Dusks stopped attacking. They retreated back, jittering and swaying to and fro, as though waiting for something. Shoshanah told herself to kill them—take advantage of the pause—but it was too eerie and she felt herself tense up.

"Well, well, doesn't this look amusing."

Shoshanah revolved on the spot. She had never seen Larxene before, and as Larxene didn't know what Shoshanah looked like, it was only natural that the two of them sized each other up before making any introductions.

"I'm Larxene," Larxene said, tossing back her short hair, and waiting for a response.  
The name triggered in Shoshanah's memory as one of the Organization, and she reacted accordingly. While Larxene continued to wait for a reply, Shoshanah raised one gun and shot three times. She had the luck of surprise on her side, as Larxene was still thinking she'd respond to her greeting. Instead, she got three bullets in her chest.

"Hey!" She cried, before jumping in to counterattack.

Shoshanah felt a sharp pain on her cheek were one of Larxene's knives hit her. It only stung a bit, though; it wasn't deep at all. She skipped back a few paces, and made a wide, arching swing with a gun. It didn't reach Larxene, but it did cause her to retreat several steps, giggling a high, annoying giggle.

A jolt of pain, real pain, one hundred times worse than the knife wound, hit Shoshanah in her stomach. If felt as if every nerve, every particle of her being was on fire. The impact sent her careening backwards into the Dusks dancing on the sidelines.

"Wasn't that fun?" Larxene jeered. Then she had to dodge as Shoshanah tossed a particularly small Dusk at her.

Before Larxene could counterattack again, Shoshanah got to her feet and withdrew a new gun—one was already out of shots.

Larxene leapt forward with a high kick, knocking the new gun out of Shoshanah's hand. She followed that up with a punch to her gut. Shoshanah collapsed, gasping. Another kick knocked the last gun away.

Larxene stood back, grinning from ear to ear. "Do you see how stupid it was to challenge me? You should've just walked away while you were able to! But it's far too late now, isn't it? _Sparky!"_ She threw the word at Shoshanah like an insult, but Shoshanah had already resigned herself to the nickname.

"Don't you give up?" Larxene giggled, watching Shoshanah struggle to her feet.

Shoshanah responded with a few chosen words that impressed even Larxene. She followed it up with a rather rude hand gesture.

"You do have guts, don't you, Sparky," Larxene said, continuing to giggle. "Axel wasn't exaggerated about you, after all."

Almost as if saying his name summoned him, Axel warped between the two females, swinging his two chakrams and looking rather put out.

"What's going on? Larxene, I told you to stay in the…." he stopped talking when he caught sight of Shoshanah, pretending to still be indisposed. "What happened to you, Sparky?"

Shoshanah ignored the question. She sprang forward, grabbing one of Axel's chakrams and pushing him hard out of the way at the same time. He would have a sore rear for the next few days, but that wasn't half as bad as what Larxene got. Before she could react, Shoshanah threw the chakram at her head with all her might.

The next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion. All three pairs of eyes were drawn to the chakram like a magnet. It soared through the air, whistling as it went. Larxene, finally realizing where it'd hit, opened her mouth to scream, or swear, and bended her knees slightly as if to jump back. But the chakram crashed into her skull before she could do anymore than that.

Blood poured from the giant gash on her forehead. She fell to the ground, clutching her scalp as the blood stained her hair. Disbelief shone bright and clear in her blue-green eyes as she stared up in horror at the woman who killed her. A black cloud began circling around her, and she managed an angry scream before disappearing for good.

Axel watched her go with raised eyebrows. "Well, Sparky, you just saved me a lot of trouble." He strolled over to pick up the fallen, bloodstained chakram. "Good throw, by the way."

Shoshanah was not tired enough to be confused about his casualness over the death of a fellow member. "You're not upset I killed her?'

"Are you kidding?" He gave a short laugh. "She's a traitor. The boss wanted me to kill her. And now, thanks to you, I don't have to do it."

Shoshanah frowned at him. "You're shameless. Could you get rid of the Dusks by any chance?"

"Sure thing." A snap of his fingers, and every last Dusk disappeared. "Only for you, of course, Sparky."

"Of course."

He gave her a funny look. "There was an awful lot of sarcasm in that answer, Sparky, dearest."

"Don't call me that," Shoshanah protested, rather unconvincingly. Axel smiled very slightly as he began to warp away.

"Get some sleep, Sparky. You look dead on your feet," were his parting words.


	13. Forbidden

It was time for our hero to receive his congratulations for a Larxene-killing well done—even though he wasn't actually the killer—and to get his long deserved, blasted, damned vacation.

"So," Axel said after he finished his report. "Is that good enough? Can I go to the beach yet?"

Xemnas was jerked out of his thoughts. "You're not going to the beach, Axel."

"A volcano, then. I can deal with that."

"Axel, I don't think you're really listening to me."

"Xemnas," Axel said in a patronizing tone "I don't think you're really saying anything to me."

"This girl, Sparky," Xemnas said, his frown deepening. "She took down Larxene, you say? Instead of you."

"That's right." Where the hell was this going?  
Xemnas explained that soon enough. "She took down a strong member of the Organization all by herself, and, as you say, she wasn't at full strength when she did too?"

"Yes. So?"

"Axel," Xemnas shook his head. "This girl is dangerous to us. She's a threat. You need to get rid of her."

Axel's mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. He looked rather like a red-haired frog. "But…" he finally stuttered. "She helped us! She took out a traitor! She gave us important information! She might be able to give us more! I can get her to give us more!"

"You're babbling, Axel," Xemnas said sternly. "And, yes, she killed a traitor, but she didn't know that. She could easily kill a loyal member as well. And as for the information, I sincerely doubt if she would give you any more, as she was drunk when you saw her. And while I thank her for those useful tidbits, but now her time is up! She's no longer any help for us. And you need to kill her!"

"But…" Axel tried to think of an argument, but nothing came to mind.

Xemnas sighed heavily. "Axel, if you can't find it in yourself to kill her, for whatever reason, you can always turn her into a Heartless. Maybe she'll become a Nobody as well."

Something finally came to mind. "But she's not that strong! I beat her once!"

"And now you can beat her again."

Axel recognized the dismissal, but he stood rooted to the spot for a few more seconds. Finally, he turned and strode out of the room, wanting to get out of there, not knowing where to go. He didn't want to return to his room—Roxas would surely be waiting there, wanting information. Instead, he took a left turn and found himself crashing into Saïx.

"Ouch!" Saïx snapped. "Watch where you're going."

Axel used a grunt as a reply.

"What's the matter with you, Axel," Saïx snarled. "Upset over Larxene's death? Or maybe you're simply unhappy about your new job: to kill Diz's little puppet."

Axel's mouth tightened, but he still didn't reply.

"Axel," Saïx's face suddenly took on a kind, fatherly look, a look Axel knew was completely and utterly false. "Axel, Axel, Axel. Before you let any imaginary feelings for the girl get the better of you, let me remind you about something: you have no heart. Should I repeat that? You—have—no—heart! Which means whatever attachment you fancy you have for her is completely fake."

Axel gritted his teeth, and tried to push past him, but Saïx grabbed his shoulders.

"Let go of me, Saïx," he said in a falsely friendly voice. "Or I'll burn your fingers off."

Saïx didn't let go, but he did loosen his grip slightly. "But Axel, do you want to hear something Demyx told me about your friend, Sparky? It's quite interesting."

"Why should I give a damn about what Demyx says?" Axel asked, still using his fake friendly voice.

"He said your friend, Sparky, was wearing a wedding ring last time he saw her." Saïx paused for impact. "She's married, Axel. And she certainly wouldn't want her ruining her marriage for her."

Axel jerked away. Something was stirring inside of him—his stomach seemed to be twisting into knots. His skin felt cold, as if he was spending the night in the artic winter. No longer pretending to be polite, he said in his iciest, most hostile snarl, "You don't know her! How the hell can you pretend to know what she'd want? And since when do you believe everything _Demyx_ says?" Even though he was usually on good terms with Demyx, he spat out his name like it was a disgusting swearword that would make even the hardest man flinch.

There was no helping it; Axel now had the choice between facing Roxas or risk running into another unpleasant conversation like the one he had just had with Saïx. He chose the former—that one was inevitable, anyways. But when he warped to his room: no Roxas.

Axel frowned. It was most unlike his young friend to pass up a chance to pump an unwilling Axel for information. It wasn't as though Roxas was on a mission or something—he would have heard about that by now.

Maybe he was in his own room. That was unusual, but not entirely unheard-of. So he warped to just outside Roxas' room, and prepared to knock.

But the door was already open. And, again, no Roxas.

It was time for one to get worried—if one had a heart, of course. "Hey!" Axel called to a passing Marluxia. "Where's Roxas?"

"Lost him, have we?" Marluxia asked snootily. "Why don't you look at clock tower in Twilight Town?"

Axel felt like an idiot. Of course Roxas would be there! "Thanks," he said to Marluxia, who snorted like an angry bull, and warped away.

He strolled up on the clock tower, knowing exactly where Roxas would be. But then he froze. Roxas was there, sure, but he wasn't the only one.

Roxas turned his head at the approaching footsteps. "Oh! Hi, Axel! You know Xion, don't you?"

Xion smiled shyly, but Axel didn't return it.

"Yes. I know her," he said, a little coldly. He turned his attention back to Roxas. "I have another mission, Roxas. I have to leave right now."

"Now?" Roxas groaned.

"Yeah. I'll be back in a week, though."

"What do you have to do?" Xion asked curiously. Roxas, licking his ice cream, nodded frantically.

Axel raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips. Finally, giving in to their young, eager expressions, he said, "I have to go kill Sparky."


	14. To The Death

Time seemed to tick slowly along for our heroine. She was stuck on the floor of a little house, listening to talk about mechanics and technology, and felt herself nodding off. Then a sharp pain in her ribs, or legs, or head would jerk her awake again, and the process would start all over again.

"Want a potion?" Cid asked, finally getting fed up with her.

Shoshanah nodded gratefully, even though she knew potions had the side effect of making her sleepy and sluggish.

"Here." He tossed one to her, and she caught it with the not-quite-so-in-pain hand. The second after she drank it, her eyelids fluttered up, and she began to feel warm and cozy, even though she was lying on the cold floor.

"I need to go find Sora," Leon said, glancing outside. "I haven't seen him in awhile."

"Ah, he'll be fine," Cid yawned. "Anyways, don't leave me alone with this girl." He jerked his head toward Shoshanah.

Leon frowned at him. "You two really should try to get along. After all, you're on the same side." He held up a finger to ward off Cid's incoming comments. "Besides, I'm sure if you just let her sleep, she won't do anything to annoy you."

"Fine," Cid said grumpily. "But be quick, will you?"

"That goes double for me," Shoshanah called from the ground.

"Shut up!" Cid snapped. "You're supposed to be asleep!"

Shoshanah stuck her tongue out and closed her eyes again.

Silence fell onto the room. Only the soft clicking of the keyboard could be heard. And slowly, Shoshanah felt herself drift off for real.

It could've been minutes or months when she finally awoke with a start. She couldn't tell what had caused to her be so tense and alert, but her neck was tingling uncomfortably and her instincts told her that nothing good was happening.

"Cid?" She called softly. But there was no response.

Louder, she said, "Cid?" But with no answer again, she raised her head and looked around.

No one was there; there was no sign of an attack, so Shoshanah had to assume Cid had simply left and would be returning shortly—nothing to cause any alarm.

But the feeling was still there, so Shoshanah stood carefully and checked to make sure a gun was within easy reach. Just to be extra sure, she cocked it; her reflexes were still marred by sleep and the potion.

"Yo, Sparky."

Shoshanah jerked around to face Axel, who leaned against the doorway, casually tossing and catching his chakrams.

"What do you want?" She asked, nicer than she would have normally, considering he was with the enemy.

"Just a bit of this and that," he said lightly. His expression did not match his tone: it was wooden and expressionless. Like a Nobody.

Axel shifted his weight to one foot, and continued. "You know, Sparky, we've been getting kinda close. Almost friendly, you know. And you also know that it can't go on any longer. And…." Hesitation flashed across his face before he smothered it again. "And that's why I came here: to finish it."

He paused again. Shoshanah didn't make any attempt to break the silence. She was quietly digesting his words, and weighing her chances if he decided to attack—they didn't look good.

"And, Sparky, I'm…." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Shoshanah burst out. "_Sorry_? Don't make me laugh. You're just a Nobody, you can't be _sorry_ about anything!"

"Sparky," Axel began, but Shoshanah didn't let him continue. She didn't know why she felt so angry and disappointed—she knew this was coming—but a small part of her had allowed her to hope.

"You don't need to lie to me, Axel. I know what Nobodies are like—murderers every single damn one of them. No matter what damn form you're in, you're all just the same."

"Sparky!" He said, a little louder. "I…"

But once again, Shoshanah cut him off. "So don't bother pretending to feel bad about what you're going to do, because I know there's no chance in hell that you're really _sorry…."_

"SHOSHANAH!" Axel yelled.

The shock of Axel calling her by her real name shut Shoshanah up.

"I am sorry!" He continued snappishly. "I'm sorry I'm a Nobody, and not a human! I'm sorry I can't be whatever the hell you wanted me to be! I'm sorry I have choose between you and the Organization, and I'm sorry I choice the Organization. And I don't care if you don't believe me, because you not believing me is small compared to what I have to do to you!"

"You're not going to kill me," Shoshanah said quietly.

"What the hell makes you think that?"

Shoshanah put her thoughts in order, and said, "Because if you were, you wouldn't have bothered to tell a soon-to-be dead woman why you were going to kill her! Especially if you 'don't care.'"

Axel looked surprised. His brow furrowed, as if he was thinking why he had bothered to have this conversation with her. Finally, he said, "I guess…I did want you to understand."

Shoshanah wasn't ready for the first blow: a fiery chakram thrown into her stomach and knocking her into the computers. She rolled over, gasping and burned, and barely missed the next chakram whizzing over her head. Indeed, several strands of her blond hair were singed by the flame.

Axel caught the returning chakram, and nimbly darted forward. He slashed with his weapon, catching Shoshanah on the chest, and didn't pause to notice the bullet that had buried itself into his thigh.

Shoshanah roughly pushed him off her, and fired wildly again. This time, she wasn't quite so lucky, if her last shot could be called such. Her gun _clicked,_ but no bullet flew out.

"Aw, crap," she muttered just before Axel's foot caught her stomach. She crashed into the computers again, and her empty gun went spinning out of her hand. She threw herself under the table to avoid his next assault, but it only provided protection for that one attack: she was trapped.

Axel didn't pause to gloat or to let her up. His green eyes remained blank and impassive and blank; not one drop of mercy glimmered in them. Instead of straight out attacking her, his next flame sent the computers crashing down.

Shoshanah screamed as fiery pain shot down her left leg; the bone had broken in two. Her hands were hot and sweaty as she tried to push the metal, plastic and wires off her. She should have been terrified—impending death does do that—but instead, she only felt her anger increase, along with pain—and, strangely, resignation. She had lost; all she could do was wait and hope the pain would end soon.

But Axel had frozen. Maybe because of Shoshanah's scream, or maybe just seeing her lying helpless in the rubble, but something had finally flashed into his eyes. Something like regret, and doubt.

As soon as Shoshanah allowed the smallest bubble of hope of survival to form, his eyes cleared again. Without so much as a word, or a look, he sent a ball of fire to engulf the whole room, with her still trapped under the destroyed computers.

And he warped away, leaving Shoshanah to die there.

-

No, the story is not over yet. Actually, this is lasting longer than I had estimated it would. But anyways...I'm not going to be posting again until January, so don't think I'm giving up on this during that break. There's still a lot more to go.

Sorry to leave you on such a...happy note, but that's just how this happened.


	15. Burning Flames

As our antihero was warping back to his base, our heroine suddenly was the receiver of some very good fortune. Leon had seen the flames, and rushed over to the burning building where Shoshanah lay.

"Shoshanah!" He yelled, coughing slightly from the smoke. "Shoshanah! Are you in there?"

Shoshanah couldn't hear him, but the sound of her trying to lift the rubble off her was enough of an answer for Leon.

He hesitated briefly at the door, then plunged recklessly in. The smoke nearly completely obstructed his view, and the whole room was in chaos anyways, so he couldn't get a good idea of where Shoshanah was.

"Shoshanah!" He coughed and spluttered. He stumbled forward, looking for any sign of life. All he could see was bright orange flames, heavy smoke, and, here and there, burning furniture.

Shoshanah heard him this time, but she couldn't make any sound without inhaling large amounts of smoke. She gave another push at the computer, beating her fists against it, hoping Leon could hear that at least. She threw all her weight at the computer, trying to ignore the intense pain in her leg.

Leon stumbled and bumbled through the ruin, in the completely wrong direction from where Shoshanah was. He kept yelling, but he couldn't see nor could he hear anything remotely like her in the burning room. He couldn't stay in for long; the roof was threatening to collapse.

"Leon!" Yuffie appeared, having heard Leon's yells from the outside. She hovered outside the door, afraid to enter yet terrified to leave. "Leon! Get out of there!" When she received no answer, she turned to the dumbfounded Cid and the horrified Aerith. "Get Sora! Quick!"

After Aerith sprinted off in the direction she knew the Keyblade Master to be, Cid revived himself enough to ask: "Why do ya need Sora for? He's just a kid."

"He can freeze the flames," Yuffie said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Then we can go in and find Leon."

"What about the girl?" Cid asked. "Shoshanah?"

"She's in there too?" Now Yuffie was dumbfounded. She began running off in another direction.

"Where're ya going?" Cid shouted.

"I'm going to find Merlin!" She called back.

Shoshanah, meanwhile, managed to push herself into a slightly more comfortable sitting position. With one last heave, using only her upper-body strength, she managed to lift the computer off herself. The sweat from the effort and the heat made her hands slippery. The computer fell from her hands, and fell onto her broken leg.

That was enough—Shoshanah let out the loudest scream she had ever made in her life, regardless of the smoke she swallowed at the same time. She began coughing violently, still screaming during any tiny pauses.

Leon, on the other side of the room, heard the crash, and he heard the cries. He turned around, and sprinted as fast as he could, dodging flames and debris along the way.

"Shoshanah!" He shouted one last time. He caught sight of yellow hair strands among the orange flames. He followed the strand to a violet eye, a green eye, a sweaty face and a panting mouth.

Leon leapt over the ever-growing fire, and knelt down beside her. She smiled weakly, but her eyes bugged out from all the pain she was in. Without another word, Leon heaved the computer off her leg and helped her out from under the ruined table.

"Can you walk?" He asked, but soon discovered it was quite a stupid question: Shoshanah couldn't stand, much less walk. That left him no choice but to carry her.

The second our heroine was in his arms and Leon began staggering out, the two of them felt the air grow colder and colder. The flames glowed, not the brilliant orange glow they had previously but a soft white glow. They slowed, and hardened into nothing more than fire-shaped ice.

Aerith and Yuffie came running through the door at that same moment. Aerith, seeing the two of them more than a little singed, but alive, gave a deep sigh of relief. Yuffie looked as if she would burst into tears, and she threw her arms around Leon.

"Don't do that again!" She howled before turning to embrace Shoshanah. Leon's mouth dropped open, and no sound came out.

Shoshanah patted reassuringly on the back and turned awkwardly to face Leon. "Um, you can put me down now. Thanks."

Leon blinked but quickly complied.

"We'll get Sora to heal you both," Aerith said. Then she saw the bending of Shoshanah's leg, and her concern deepened. "Perhaps he should look at Mrs. Sparks first."

"Shoshanah," Shoshanah corrected automatically.

Sora didn't need to be called in—he appeared at Aerith's elbow, looking anxious. Behind him, Donald and Goofy stood. A flash of green sparks covered Shoshanah and Leon. Leon checked himself and smiled to show the healing had passed the test. He sat on one of the destroyed chairs, careful not to damage it anymore, and waited for Shoshanah's results.

"Thanks," she said, struggling to her feet. Her body felt in perfect working order—just as it had before the fight with Axel. Except…

When she walked, her left leg felt stiff and numb. Aerith was the first the notice the limb.

"Isn't there anything you can do?" She asked Sora after pointing it out.

Sora, Donald, and Merlin all tried to completely heal the leg, but nothing changed.

"Well," Shoshanah said, trying to make the best of it. "Considering I thought I was going to die, a busted leg doesn't seem quite so bad, does it?"

There were a few murmurs of agreement, but Aerith continued to look at her sympathetically. She wasn't able to say anything about it, though, because at that very moment, Cloud came running into the building, waving a piece of paper in his hands.

"You're Shoshanah, right?" Without waiting for a confirmation, he continued. "I know you are; you're the only person here I don't know." He took a deep breath to calm himself down slightly, and with a more serene air, he handed her the paper.

Shoshanah took it curiously. It was from Riku:

_Shoshanah, the mansion in Twilight Town is under attack by Heartless. Diz is dead. Wally has gone missing from his mission in Atlantica. I need your help. Please bring Sora, too._


	16. Attack Of The Heartless

The note was more than enough to convince our noble heroine that she had to return to Twilight Town. Sora and his sidekicks weren't about to let her go alone, however, especially since Sora wanted to use this chance to see Riku again. Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith wanted to go, but they needed to stay with Cid to protect Hollow Bastion. Cloud never gave anyone the chance to ask his decision, as he disappeared after delivering the note.

"You can come in our Gummi ship!" Sora said brightly. He was far too happy about the situation Shoshanah thought irritably. But at least he was better than Donald, who was busy complaining about having to leave without any sign of some king. Shoshanah decided to ignore him, if only to preserve her sanity.

"How long does it take to reach Twilight Town?" She snapped, after an hour and no sign of the world.

"Only another half-hour," Sora said in surprise. "I thought you knew that; you've been there."

Shoshanah crossed her arms and fumed to herself, mentally cursing the ship for not moving faster. Hearing your friend, albeit an annoying and depressing one, was in danger and one of your comrades was dead did not make one particularly patient.

So she wouldn't vent her frustration out on her companions so more, and because she was honestly curious, she asked, "How did they know where Diz and Riku were?"

There wasn't any answer, nor did she expect to receive one.

The situation at Twilight Town made the foursome stop in horror. Trees were uprooted, rocks were shattered into pebbles, buildings and houses were reduced to rubble. But the worst were the bodies scattered along the trail leading to the mansion.

Sora glanced at Shoshanah, who looked like she might be sick. "Hey," he said softly. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Shoshanah swallowed. "Just let me kick some Heartless ass."

Sora managed a very weak chuckle, but could tell Shoshanah was not at all meaning to be humorous. Those Heartless were doomed.

Donald regained his voice enough to ask, "I thought Heartless just turned people into them."

"Usually they do," Shoshanah answered, her voice thick with suppressed anger. "But sometimes they kill."

With that, she limped forward, swinging her pistols as she went. Sora, Goofy, and Donald, after exchanging a look, followed closely behind.

The first Heartless that caught sight of them was a group of little shadows. They paused, waving their antennae curiously; then one brave one waddled over. The rest of them quickly joined, not wanting to be left out of the fun. Shoshanah brought down three before they reached them, and then she had to retreat slightly: fighting at close-quarters was not her strength.

Sora took the lead now, waving his giant key around like a maniac. Donald got a little too close to him, and nearly lost his head.

"Watch it!" He quacked, jumping away. Sora didn't answer; he probably didn't hear.

"There's the mansion!" Shoshanah shouted as she shot down another, larger Heartless. "Do ya see Riku anywhere?" She elbowed a Large Body Heartless as it lumbered forward, trying to catch her back.

"Nobodies are coming up!" Sora warned, swinging his Keyblade into a better position for attack. "Lots of Dusks!"

The warning wasn't exactly necessary—the large wave of white was rather difficult to miss—but it was still appreciated. Shoshanah backed up a bit more, stepping on a Shadow Heartless along the way, and took out a new gun—her first one had run out of bullets, so she had thrown it randomly into the mess.

"The rate this is going, I'm gonna have to buy more guns soon," she muttered.

The Dusks, instead of charging straight on, made a loose circle around their enemies. Not all attacked at once; a few continued in their strange dance as the others swooped in. One had not aimed particularly well, and instead of hitting Goofy, as was its target, bounced off the fence. One could almost perceive the stars swirling around its head.

"There's too many of them!" Sora shouted, frustrated. "Where's Riku?"

"Don't waste your breath!" Shoshanah advised him. A well-placed kick caught a Dusk on the head and knocked it down.

They fought on for several minutes, with no signs of the end and no signs of Riku. Sora finally had enough. "I'm going in!" He yelled.

"What?" Donald yelped. He electrocuted a Heartless before continuing. "You can't! We need everyone!"

"Like Riku!" Sora shot back. He made a wild dash for the mansion door, cutting down every Heartless in his path with a few slashes of his Keyblade.

"You're not going without me!" Shoshanah shouted. She leapt over one Shadow, who had been trying to gnaw on her boot, and limped as fast as she could to Sora. Her leg wasn't so damaged that it slowed her down dramatically, and with her longer legs, she caught up to him when he as he reached the door.

"We need both of you!" Donald yelled.

"You can come too!" Sora retorted. He pushed open the door.

Inside the mansion was utter chaos, far worse than the chaos outside. There were significantly less Heartless and Nobodies, but only one person fought them. Riku didn't bother glancing up as Sora and Shoshanah joined in the fight—he was concentrating fully on his opponent.

His opponent was a tall, broad-shouldered, human-shaped Nobody with short blond hair and a short beard and mustache. He wore an Organization cloak, and his ears were both pierced several times. He, unlike Riku, did look up at Sora, and a sneer twisted his lips. But then his eyes fell on Shoshanah. His mouth dropped, and he froze.

"Th-that's not possible!" He gasped. "You're dead!"

Riku snorted. "She doesn't look dead to me." He ran forward, running his blade straight through his opponent.

A gash reaching from his neck to his pelvis appeared. Blood spurted out, and the man slipped on it as he staggered backwards. His face showed only surprise, but it was focused not on Riku but on Shoshanah.

"Axel…" he wheezed, ignoring his rapidly disappearing body parts. "Axel…he said…he killed you…." A black cloud enveloped him, cutting off any other words.

Riku sighed, and turned to face the others. The Heartless and Nobodies, seeing their leader was gone, had retreated, so Donald and Goofy had decided to find Sora and Shoshanah.

"Well," Riku began. "Nice to see you, Shoshanah. Luxord kept telling me you were dead."

"Not quite," Shoshanah smiled.

"Riku!" Sora squeaked, rather like a little girl. He ran forward to hug his friend.

Riku yelped, also like a little girl, and wiggled out of Sora's hold. "Sora! Get a grip on yourself! Anyways, that hurt!" He massaged his ribs to prove his point.

"Diz is dead?" Shoshanah asked. She knew the answer, but wanted it confirmed again.

"Yeah." Riku sighed again. "We had no idea of an attack. They just came outta nowhere! How did they know where we were, anyway?"

Shoshanah rubbed her temples. Something was bugging her, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. To distract herself, she asked, "Do you know what happened to Wally?"

"Oh, yeah," Riku laughed quietly. "Somehow, he went from Atlantica to some jungle world where he is currently being worshiped as a pagan god of war."

"He would be," Shoshanah muttered.

"It doesn't make sense, though," Sora said. "They couldn't have known you guys were here!"

"That's what I've been saying, Sora!" Riku snapped. "The only way they could've known is if someone told them, and…"

"Holy shit!" Shoshanah exploded. Everyone fell silent except her, who continued her violent swearing.

Riku decided it would be prudent to stop her and ask what was going on. "What, Shoshanah?"

"I told them!" She gasped. "When I was drunk! I _told_ that son-of-a-bitch! I'll kill that bastard! I'll kill him!" Her voice had risen until she was shouting herself hoarse.

"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten drunk!" Riku said cruelly.

"I won't anymore!" She snarled. "Axel, that bastard! I'll kill him!"

No, I couldn't resist sending Wally out of the story in that way--it was just too much fun.


	17. Consequences

Our hero was dead. There was no possible he was going to survive this. He was stuck standing in the center of the Room Where Nothing Gathers while every other remaining member stared down at him. With three exceptions: Roxas looked sympathetic, Xion looked down at him like he was a pitiable fool, while Xemnas simply glowered. He was utterly doomed, no questions asked.

"So," Xemnas began in an ominous tone. "So, Number Eight, would you care to explain yourself?"

Definitely doomed. "Yeah, but…um, explain what?" It seemed best to play dumb—give himself a few more seconds.

"You told us all Shoshanah Sparks had been killed." Xemnas thundered. "By your hand as well! And now look: she still lives, and Luxord is no more! Tell everyone how this could have happened!"

Axel glanced around for a supportive face from someone with more influence with the Superior than Roxas, but found none. "I thought she was dead!"

"And how," Xemnas said, his voice cold as ice. "Did you believe that? Did you strike her down? Did you watch her fall? Did you see her die?"

"Not quite," Axel admitted. No good lying—it'd just make things worse for him. "I lit the building she was in on fire. She was trapped under a table," he added. "I have no idea how she could have escaped!"

"Perhaps," Xemnas suggested acidly. "One of her friends decided to help her out of there?"

Crap. "That's possible," Axel said tentatively. "I suppose."

"You suppose," Xemnas repeated. "You suppose? Why didn't you chop her up into tiny pieces with your chakrams, and lit _that _on fire_,_ instead of leaving everything to chance?"

Saïx spoke. "Perhaps Axel didn't want to kill her. Perhaps Number Eight really wished to give the girl a chance to live."

"What would you've done?" Axel said angrily. "I've never seen _you_ chop up girls, Saïx!"

"Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean I don't do it," Saïx said complacently.

"You're right," Axel snapped. "You probably go out on holidays to turn people into fish food. Your idea of fun, hey, Saïx?"

Zexion chuckled, startling everyone including himself. He quickly shut his mouth, but a smirk remained.

"That's enough," Xemnas said, casting a dirty look at Zexion. Zexion kept his eyes staring coolly at the wall. "Number Eight, you are confined to your room for three months. And if you ever fail your mission to this magnitude ever again, you shall instantly be erased. Do I make myself clear?"

"Completely and utterly," Axel replied stiffly.

"Good. Then take your seat." He waited until his command was obeyed before continuing. "Now, there is still the matter of this Shoshanah Sparks. Since Axel seems incapable of finishing her off, someone else must do it." He looked around the room, sizing each Nobody up. "Xaldin, you can kill her, can't you?"

"Either she'll die, or me," Xaldin promised. Axel rolled his eyes at the melodramatic line. Xemnas, however, was pleased.

"Excellent." He turned to face Roxas, who was fidgeting in his chair. "Number Thirteen, if you can't remain still, I'll see to it you don't eat any sugar for a week."

Roxas literally drooped.

"Thank you. And," he added, as if a thought had just seized him. "Remember that your…friend is being punished, and you are not to talk to him, or even see him during this time. So don't bother trying to sneak off to his room to visit him."

Roxas drooped some more.

"Now," Xemnas said, in a satisfied tone. "I believe that is all to this meeting. And I also believe it is lunch time, so…." He stopped when Xigbar, Lexaeus, Zexion, Demyx, and Marluxia all warped away.

"You may all leave," he finished crossly.

Axel caught Roxas' eye, and the two of them waited with Xion until everyone had left.

Roxas started immediately. "That's so unfair! You didn't know she wasn't dead. Anyways, what did Luxord's disappearance have to do with it? The reports say that Riku killed him, not Sparky!"

"He needed a scapegoat," Xion said wisely. "And Axel was convenient."

"I don't appreciate being called a scapegoat!" Axel said hotly. After seeing Xion's expression, he toned his resentment down, and added jokingly, "Got it memorized?"

Her face cleared, and she giggled.

"It's too bad Sparky's gonna die," Roxas said mournfully. "Xaldin won't give her the chance to escape."

"I didn't…" Axel began, but stopped. Roxas and Xion both looked disbelievingly at him, and he rethought his answer. "Well, I guess I did. But Xemnas ordering me to kill her was completely unreasonable. She had been so helpful!"

"Especially getting rid of Larxene," Xion grinned. She sighed. "I wish there was something to do for Sparky; I kinda wanted to meet her." She cast a sideways look at Axel, who pointedly ignored it.

Roxas still looked mournful. "I wish we didn't have to stay away from you, Axel. We'll miss you."

Axel tried to take an optimistic view, for the sake of his young friend. "Yeah, well, three months isn't too bad. Not as bad as I thought was gonna happen, at least." He stood and stretched. "I'm starving. I'm gonna go have lunch before returning to my cell." He warped away.

"He's just going to let Xaldin kill Sparky?" Xion whispered. She turned with a determined look to Roxas. "Are we gonna let that happen?"

Roxas blinked. "What? Oh. Yeah…I mean, no! Well, I guess…"

"We won't!" Xion interrupted. She jumped up. "Come on, Roxas!"  
"W-what?" Roxas stammered. "Where're we going?"

"We're gonna get to Sparky before Xaldin does!"

"Without lunch?" Roxas asked. One look from Xion confirmed it: no lunch.

-

So, I'm going to try and update twice a week now instead of once a week. But it all depends on my schedule and my mood, mostly the latter.


	18. Hurricane

It goes without saying: our heroine was incredibly surprised to see the two teenagers warp smack in front of her and Riku in Twilight Town (Sora and co. had left to go fast-food hunting).

"What do you want?" Riku snapped, drawing his weapon.

Roxas raised his hands to show his unarmed state. That didn't reassure Riku and Shoshanah too much.

"We came to warn you!" Xion explained hurriedly. "Well, Sparky mostly. Is that you?"

A muscle in Shoshanah's jaw twitched. "My name is…" she began angrily, but Riku cut her off.

"Yes, that's 'Sparky'. What do you want to say to her?"

"Xaldin is coming!" Roxas shouted dramatically.

Shoshanah raised an eyebrow. "Is that like 'the British are coming'?"

"Who?" Roxas asked.

"Never mind." It wasn't the time to go into that. "And, if Xaldin is coming, why are you warning me? Aren't we enemies?"

"Because we wanted to meet you!" Xion said brightly. "And we didn't want you to die."

"Axel would be upset," Roxas added.

At Axel's name, Shoshanah jumped to her feet, and she hissed menacingly, "Why the hell would I care how that bastard feels? He can't feel anything, anyways!"

Roxas was shocked anyone could talk so badly about Axel and mean every word. "But…he let you escape!"

"No," she snarled. "He passed over the chance to give me a quick and relatively painless death and instead chose to let me burn while being crushed underneath a massive computer."

"I think you're exaggerating," Xion disagreed.

"You weren't there! You wouldn't know!"

"Shut up!" Riku snapped. "All of you! Shoshanah, no matter what their reasoning was, that fact remains they _did_ warn you about Xaldin!" He turned to the other two. "Thanks for the warning. But for your own sake, I'd recommend you have a better reason for betraying your organization than you wanting to meet someone."

"Well, don't tell them," Xion said practically. "And they'll never find out. We'll be back before they realize we were gone."

"Is that so?"

As one, the four of them turned to see a tall, dark-haired man with huge sideburns.

"The Superior already knows you're gone," Xaldin continued. "And you'll never go back to the World That Never Was alive."

"Technically, they're not alive," Shoshanah said, just to be obnoxious. "And I think you really aren't in a position to make threats—after all, there's only one of you, and four of us."

Xaldin blinked slowly at her. Then he snapped his fingers, and twenty lesser Nobodies appeared.

Shoshanah's eyebrows shot up, and her mouth made a small circle. "Ooo…gotcha."

A whirlwind blasted into her chest, knocking the wind out of her momentarily. "I'll deal with you later," Xaldin said cockily.

Shoshanah would have retorted, but she couldn't find the breath to do it. Instead, she mentally cursed her slow reflexes; it was a miracle she had survive this long.

Xaldin turned his attention to Roxas, whom he judged to be the biggest threat. However, he didn't count on Riku springing to attack once Shoshanah had been knocked over. His blade caught Xaldin on the check. Xaldin growled, and half of the Nobodies converged onto Riku. The other half focused their attack on Xion.

Shoshanah took a deep, painful breath, and rose shakily to her feet. She grabbed a rock and threw it randomly. It didn't hit anyone, but it did get a few Nobodies' attention. Three began closing in on her. Shoshanah duck low, pretending to be weaker than she was, trying to give them a false sense of confidence. Hey, it worked once, didn't it?

Riku, meanwhile, smashed into his second-to-last Nobody. The Nobody crumpled and disappeared. A simple slash brought down the last one, and he turned his attention to helping Roxas.

It was most difficult for the two young Organization members, as they didn't have any weapons to fight with. They hadn't had any time to summon anything, so they fought with magic and fists alone. Needless to say, Roxas was very grateful for the help.

But Xion was not faring so well. She had brought down one Nobody, but the other nine were more difficult. She tried to hide, but there was nowhere to go. The Nobodies surrounded her on every side. Seeing no other option, she cried out, "Help!"

Xaldin let out a cruel laugh, which was cut short by a sharp jab from Roxas' elbow. Riku then took over the battle against him, freeing Roxas to go help Xion.

Our heroine now had just killed those three Nobodies, and was running as fast as she could to help Xion as well. So the situation is as follows: Riku vs. Xaldin; Roxas, Xion, and Shoshanah vs. the nine lesser Nobodies, and not one actual weapon between the twelve of them. In other words: while it didn't look hopeless, it wasn't exactly ideal fighting conditions either. And Xion was weakening rapidly.

One Nobody got free of Roxas' flying fists to land one lethal attack on the poor Xion's head. She crumpled, and fell. Shoshanah's foot flared out and hit the Nobody, but then she fell as well. Shoshanah was able to stand back up fairly quickly, but the Nobody disappeared once it hit the ground, and poor little Xion never stood again.

"Xion!" Roxas screamed in anguish, watching his friend slowly fade from view. In horror, he dodged the Nobody he was fighting, allowing Shoshanah to take over. He fell to his knees beside her.

"You can't go!" He begged. When Xion didn't respond, his pleading got more desperate. "You can't leave! Who will I eat ice cream with?"

Shoshanah saw the perfect opportunity to make a smart remark, but determined it would be too tactless considering the circumstances. She was spared the need to when a voice called out:

"What the hell am I, then?"

Axel popped up, and without another word, sent his flaming chakrams to hit Xaldin squarely in the face.


	19. No Going Back

Our heroine and antihero stood back with Roxas and Riku, watching the smoldering remains of Xaldin disappear into the air. The remaining Nobodies quickly warped away, now that their leader was gone.

Tears poured down Roxas' face. "Xion is gone!" He sobbed to Axel. "She was just…killed."

Axel awkwardly patted his friend's back, but his eyes were focused on Shoshanah, who was looking none too pleased to see him there.

"Hey, Sparky," he said, trying to sound casual.

A muscle twitched in Shoshanah's jaw, and her glare deepened. "Is that all you can say for yourself?"

"Hey," he shrugged, still attempting to feign casualness. "We're enemies. What do ya want me to say?"

"There's nothing you can say!" She snapped back. Turning on heel, she limped off in a completely random direction. Axel watched her go curiously.

"What happened to her leg?"

"You," Riku said, as if that explained everything. His weapon was still raised in an offensive position, but his expression was surprisingly benign. "So, what are you two going to do now?"

"Excuse me?" Roxas asked. He had stopped crying, but his eyes were very red.

"We can't go back," Axel explained, with an ugly look on his face. "We're traitors now, Rox."

"But you were just protecting us!" Roxas protested hotly.

Axel sighed and rubbed his temples. "Rox, you and Xion were betrayed us when you warned the enemy Xaldin was coming. And I betrayed us when I killed Xaldin to save you. And that's the end of it. Got it memorized?"

Riku snorted. "You pick weird times to laugh."

"Who said I was laughing?"

"But we weren't supposed to be caught!" Roxas burst out before Riku could respond. He was still visibly upset by Xion's death, and the news he couldn't return to the only place he had ever remotely considered home disturbed him even more. "We were supposed to come here and go back before they noticed!"

"Well, that didn't work, did it?" Riku snapped. "Next time, come up with a better plan!" When Axel opened his mouth, he added, "You'd better go before Shoshanah gets over the gratitude of you killing Xaldin, and comes to finish you off. She's really pissed at you, you know."

Axel glanced in the direction she had gone, and saw her sitting on stone wall with her legs dangling over the edge. Her eyes were fixed on something only she could see, and her arms were wrapped tightly around her torso. Her back stiffened slightly, as if she knew Axel was staring.

Riku was staring, too. But at Axel. And as if Axel was a nutcase. "Are you leaving?" He asked, enunciating each word slowly and obviously. "If you value your pretend existence, you shouldn't try talking to her, because…"

"You don't need to tell me!" Axel retorted. "I can figure the rest out. And don't use that tone with me, either; I'm not five." He began walking towards Shoshanah, but paused and looked back at Riku. "Got it memorized?"

"Your funeral!" Riku shouted back.

Once he reached Shoshanah, Axel swung his legs over the wall to sit next to her. She gave no sign of noticing, expect inching away very slightly.

After a few moments of tense silence, he ventured to say, "What's up, Sparky?" He couldn't think of any other way to break the silence.

"Why do you care?" Her tone was not friendly.

Axel ran a hand through his hair. "What's the matter with you, Sparky?"

"What's the matter with me?" Shoshanah repeated. His question had shocked her so much, she actually turned to look at him. "Oh, let me think for a few seconds! My leg is permanently busted. My allies consist of an pessimistic, white-haired teenager, a dead old man who lied to everyone about his identity, and a man who left us to be worshiped as a god. All our hope is pinned one gullible teenage bubblehead who hasn't even hit his growth spurt yet, and his two friends: a walking, talking dog and duck. And don't even get me started on our allies here. And you ask me what's the matter with me?" She ended with a high-pitched, slightly out of control laugh.

"Point taken," Axel said. He wiggled a little, getting comfortable, before he continued. "Wait…what happened to the monkey-man?"

Shoshanah glared. "You heard me."

"Fine. But, you know, you can't pretend you expected me to have acted any differently. We're enemies, after all."

Shoshanah sighed deeply. Her furious expression finally dropped. "That's not exactly why I'm upset, Axel. It's just…." She stopped and shook her head. "I never thought we'd be best friends or anything like that. But…I did, you know, start…_liking_ you, actually. And I slipped. I forgot I _couldn't_ like you, in any way." Again, she paused. "You know, I'm more angry at myself than anything." She let out another unhappy laugh. "It was just so easy to take things out on you!"

"Well, that's nice to know." Axel said. He glanced down, and what he saw ruined any good mood that might have been forming: a diamond ring resting on Shoshanah's left ring finger.

He stood quickly. "So, I'll see you around, I guess, Sparky. Roxas and I've gotta run before the Organization catches up with us." Sheer curiosity made him add, "Are we friends now?"

Shoshanah snorted. "Hell, _no,_ dimwit. Wait a few hundred years, and we'll see how things're going."

"I'll be there," he grinned before going to collect his young, utterly bamboozled comrade.


	20. Seeds Of Rebellion

It is time to give the third major character in our story some more time. Yes, boys and girls, our villain. The power hungry and diabolical genius known as Xemnas, the Superior.

Okay, so perhaps that's a tad bit exaggerated. But you get my point.

…Don't you?

Never mind. I'll just pretend you do, and keep going as if everything's fine and dandy.

But for our villain, everything was _not_ fine and dandy. He had just received news of the occurrences in the last two chapters, and, needless to say, he did not like them.

"You mean to tell me," he slowly asked the poor, trembling Dusk. "That Roxas, Xion, and Axel betrayed me, and that Xaldin and Xion are dead?"

The Dusk nodded its head like an eager, little puppy.

Xemnas crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. Thoughts bubbled around in his head, thoughts that did not bode well for neither Roxas nor Axel. "Well," he said finally. "Clearly, Axel and Roxas are expelled from the Organization. But we can't allow them to continue to aid our enemies. They must be destroyed immediately." His eyes looked around for a good candidate for the deed. "Xigbar," he said at last.

"Yo," Xigbar said as an answer.

"You and…" here Xemnas paused again. "You and Zexion can take care of them, can't you?"

"Will do, boss," Xigbar said cheerfully. Zexion merely nodded.

"Excellent. And while you're at it, try to kill Sparky as well. And perhaps the Keyblade master and his annoying companions too. Riku, also, needs to be gotten rid of. And, let's see…"

"Why don't you just tell us to kill everyone and be done with it?" Zexion asked testily.

Xemnas' eyes narrowed. "What did you just say?"

Tension mounted higher and higher as Zexion stared back as his leader. The other Nobodies glanced back and forth at the two of them, unsure of what Zexion would do. Finally, he replied, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Good," Xemnas said, breathing heavily through his nose. "Then that's all. You may all leave." He continued to stare suspiciously at Zexion as the younger Nobody warped away.

"Saïx," he called to his second-in-command before he warped away as well. "Could you stay a minute?" He waited until Marluxia, who seemed quite keen to listen in on the conversation, left before he continued. "Could you watch Zexion before he leaves with Xigbar? And tell Xigbar to watch him as they complete their mission."

"You think he's planning any treachery?" Saïx asked impassively.

"I'm not sure what he's thinking," Xemnas mused. "I would hate to suspect him, considering he's one of the founders. But he's always been one of the few on good terms with Axel, and I've noticed he's also been growing rather restless of late. I want you and Xigbar to find out what it means."

"Of course." Saïx half bowed. "Anything else?"

Xemnas shook himself out of his reflections. "No. That is all, Saïx. You may go."

Saïx bowed again before leaving.

Our villain sunk back into his meditations, and remained where he was. It could have been hours or minutes; he lost track of time very quickly. His thoughts darted back and forth between Axel and Zexion, wondering if there was a connection between the two of them, and whether it was a smart idea to send Zexion off to kill Axel. His mind finally settled comfortably on the knowledge that Xigbar, at least, was loyal, and would stop Zexion if he put his foot out of line. He was sure of it. Zexion would never get the chance to help Axel, if that was his intention.

With that, Xemnas warped away.

Our antihero pulled his hood over his head, and looked at himself in the mirror. "Hey, Rox," he called to the moody, brooding teen behind him. "Do ya think wearing something else would throw 'em off our scent, or do ya think this's enough?"

"Hmm?" Roxas hmmed. He hadn't had any ice cream for three days, and so he became even more sullen and inattentive than usual.

"Never mind." This would be good enough. He turned back. "Where should we hide first?"

"Do you think Sora has any ice cream?" Roxas asked, as if that answered Axel's question.

Axel pushed the hood down and rolled his eyes. "How should I know? I've only seen him once! Anyways, if you eat any more ice cream, you're gonna get fat."

"You sound like a girl," Roxas sniffed. He rubbed his eyes, leaned back and sighed dramatically.

"You don't need more ice cream."

Roxas sobbed loudly and obviously—too loudly and obviously for it to be real.

"Oh, come on. Can't you hold on a week or two?"

He moaned, and flopped onto his stomach, burying his head in his arms.

It seemed the only thing to do was to give in. "Fine," Axel sighed. "But where, pray tell, do you think we can find any ice cream?"

Roxas shot up the second Axel said 'fine.' "Sora!" He said enthusiastically.

"What makes you think he's gonna have any?" Axel didn't wait for a response. "You just wanna meet him, don't you?"

"Of course," Roxas said happily. "He is me, after all."  
"That's confusing," Axel groaned. "I think I'm getting a headache. Fine, we'll go find Sora. Maybe I can ditch you there, and not have to listen to your rants about ice cream anymore."

-

If this chapter doesn't make sense now, I swear it will later. Otherwise, you have my permission to insult me in whatever ways you find appropriate. Try to wait a little, though.


	21. WakeUp Call

A fairly boring scene stands before us: our heroine lay under several thick blankets, snoring slightly as she tosses and turns. As much happens inside the house as outside—in other words, nothing at all. But never fear—soon something will happen. I know this because I'm the narrator, and I know everything. But until that something happens, I will continue to describe the scene in as many ways as possible.

Shoshanah grunted softly, and rolled onto her stomach. Her legs kicked the blankets until they over covered her waist down. Her long, blond hair was twisted all around her head until it was difficult to tell the back from the front. She sighed, and flipped back over onto her back. Then she turned onto her side following a loud snort and a groan.

Now, this is getting a little redundant. Let me skip ahead a little—it'll only take a few seconds.

…

…

…

A soft, familiar noise woke our heroine up as if someone had just shouted in her ear. She struggled to sit up, and scanned the darkness suspiciously. What she found did nothing to mollify her.

"What do you what?" She asked grumpily. Axel's smug smirk widened.

"No hello for me, huh, Sparky?"

"What time is it?" was the next question that crossed her lips. She glanced over at the clock, and it took a several seconds for the numbers to sink in. "You came to see me at three o'clock in the morning?"

"Well," Axel said, plopping himself on her bed. "It looks that way, doesn't it?" He winked.

Shoshanah was too befuddled by her lack of sleep to be as angry as she should have been. "What do you want?"

"Well," Axel said again. "Roxas has been whining about ice cream, and how Sora might have some, so I let him go. I really doubt if he actually wants to see Sora for the ice cream, though."

"That's nice," Shoshanah said hazily. She stood unsteadily, and stumbled towards a mirror.

"Nice pajamas," Axel grinned.

Shoshanah glanced down: she was wearing a baggy shirt that nearly covered her very short shorts. "I didn't have a lot of choices." She looked at her reflection. "My hair's a mess!" Frantically, she tried to fix it with her fingers, but she only managed to make it worse.

"What're you worried about?" Axel asked lazily. "I'm the only one who's gonna see it."

"Yeah, but…." She stopped, and from her reflection, Axel could see her face turn beet red. To change the subject, she hastily said, "So…why do you think…Roxas wants to see Sora?"

"'Cause Sora's his Somebody," Axel replied, his eyes still watching the back of her head curiously. "You know, it's not often when a Nobody can meet his Somebody. Actually, I think it could only happen to one other pair."

Shoshanah's face was not quite as red, and her hair was slightly neater, so she turned and the man stretched out on her bed. "So…whose your Somebody?"

"I…." Whatever Axel had suspected she'd say, that certainly wasn't it. "Um…Lea."

"Lea," Shoshanah repeated, like a parrot.

"Yeah, Lea. But that doesn't matter; I'm Axel. Lea's gone."

"That's a depressing thought." Without thinking, Shoshanah sat next to him. "Kinda weird, too, you know?"

"I guess so." Axel shifted a little, and his leg bumped against hers. Shoshanah felt her thoughts jumble together, and she nearly missed what he said next. "But if something happens enough, I don't think it's really weird anyone. And I think there's enough Nobodies without Somebodies for it to be considered…not weird."

"That's probably true," Shoshanah said without knowing what she was saying. Axel had just sat up, and his hand brushed against her arm and muddled her mind again. She shook her head out, and inched away from him.

Axel noticed. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing," Shoshanah said quickly. Very quickly. Time to get the focus off her and back onto Roxas. "I hope Roxas finds Sora. Riku's been looking for him all night, and he hasn't found him."

Axel snorted. "How do you know that?"

"Because he said he'd come right back. And then he'd smell you out in a second, and come bursting in here with his blade. So, obviously, he doesn't know you're here. Which means he's not back. Which means…"

"He hasn't found Sora," Axel finished. "Maybe the kid got distracted by something. He is a teenager, after all."

"Who? Sora, or Riku?"

"Both of course." He chuckled. "And Roxas. Face it, Sparky: we're the only adults with a bunch of adolescences."

Suddenly, Shoshanah became uncomfortably aware that she was alone in her room on her bed in the early, early morning with a hot member of the opposite sex next to her. Her face blushed more furiously than she had ever dreamed it capable of, and her heart started racing so fast, it was like a steady buzz. It would almost be worth becoming a Nobody so she wouldn't be able to feel anything during painfully awkward situation like these; Axel seemed blissfully ignorant of anything amiss.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sparky? You look kinda funny."

Maybe that had more to do with him being an oblivious guy than a heartless Nobody.

"I'm fine." Shoshanah tried to sound airy, and only succeeded in sounding squeaky. "Really. Never been better."

"Your face is all red," Axel said, leaning closer slightly.

Shoshanah pulled back, thinking, _brilliant observation, idiot._

"Are you sick or something?"

Damn. Why did he have to sound so concerned? Shoshanah forced a laugh. "It just seems really hot in here." That wasn't a lie.

"You think? It's kinda cold to me. But then, I'm used to the heat. Don't really notice it that much." He frowned, and sat back. Shoshanah breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Axel continued after a pause. "No. It's not that hot. Maybe you are sick."

"Oh, yeah. I'm definitely sick. It'll probably pass away soon enough." Didn't she wish.

"Yeah," Axel yawned. "Damn, I'm tired. It's been a really busy day. Do you mind if I sleep here?"

"What?" Shoshanah yelped. Axel winced.

"Are you _trying_ to wake the whole town?"

Shoshanah's heart had begun beating even faster than before. "You—can't—really—bad idea—we—bad—shouldn't—."

"You know you're not making any sense." Axel rolled his eyes and grinned at her. "Come on. What's the problem? We're friends, aren't we?"

Oh, she could so kill him right then and there.

"Aren't we?" He leaned forward again. Very close. Too close. His eyes hovered barely three inches from hers.

Shoshanah decided right then and there, instead of killing him, to screw conventions. Right then and there, she leaned forward as well, and kissed him.

Axel's whole body stiffened in shock. He didn't pull back because he didn't seem capable of moving. It wasn't exactly comfortable for either party, but Shoshanah had just flung all thoughts out the window.

Finally, she came to her senses. The two of them sat staring at each other, as if neither could believe what just happened.

Axel was the first to recover his power of speech. In the iciest voice he possessed, he asked, "Won't your husband be upset?"

Shoshanah would have been less surprised if he had just punched her in the stomach or boxed her around the ears. As it was, it felt the exact same as the former. Her face drained of all color, and her eyes widened.

"Husband…?"

Before she could finish that thought, there was a crash. Both jumped a foot in the air, and ran out to investigate.

-

This chapter was incredibly fun to write, can you tell?


	22. Street Brawl

By now you're probably wondering what the crash our heroine and antihero heard was. Or perhaps, if you're telepathic or the previous chapters have made it obvious, you already know what's going to happen and are waiting patiently, or not so patiently, for me to finish this paragraph so the story can continue. Either way, I have a feeling I'm rambling now, so I'll just get back to actually narrating.

Our antihero reached the source of the commotion before our heroine. The front door had been rudely blasted to tiny pieces by a scarred, eye-patched, ponytailed man waving a gun around in a threatening manner.

"Hey, Xigbar," Axel said. His…_ahem_…polite greeting was at odds with the flaming chakrams he just summoned.

"Yo, Axel," Xigbar grinned. "You know I really don't wanna do this…"

"Then don't," Axel suggested.

Xigbar barked out a laugh. "That's a good one, Axel! I wanna keep my neck more than I wanna save yours."

"Glad I mean so much to you."

"When you two are done!" Zexion poked his head in, frowning. "This is taking more time than it should."

"Right," Xigbar said just as Shoshanah caught up. She grabbed Axel's shoulder to steady herself, and her eyes surveyed the damage in clear disapproval.

"This is Sparky, eh?" Xigbar chuckled. "She's pretty, Axel. I'll give you that. Not beautiful, but pretty."

"Like I really care what you think of me," Shoshanah snapped. "And my name's Shoshanah."

"I was just trying to figure out what kind of girl Axel gave his existence up for. It wouldn't make sense if you were ugly."

"Looks don't have anything to do with it," she said primly.

"I'm not dead yet, you know," Axel said at the same time.

"Ah, well," Xigbar sighed. "You know, Axel, this is all really too bad. I always liked you."

"Don't worry," Axel reassured him. "I never liked you."

"This is all very touching," Zexion said testily. "But it's also very boring. Do we really have to have a nice, long conversation about why we're going to kill someone, and how much we regret it?"

"Just being friendly," Xigbar said, miffed.

Zexion rolled his eyes hard, and hit him hard on the head with his lexicon. Xigbar stumbled forward, blinking stars out of his eyes.

"I thought you're on his side," Shoshanah said uncertainly. Her pistols kept switching between Xigbar and Zexion, unsure of whom to point at.

"Are you complaining?" Zexion asked impassively.

Xigbar coughed, and snapped his fingers. Immediately, twenty or thirty lesser Nobodies popped, breaking numerous laws of physics just by their movements. Zexion and Axel were instantly pulled into fighting with them, although Shoshanah couldn't tell if Zexion was fighting against them or for them. She didn't have much time to look—Xigbar was on her almost at the same second.

"Why do I get stuck fighting you?" She asked, dodging a bullet.

"Guess I'm just lucky!" Xigbar grinned evilly. He then had to duck a rock Shoshanah sent flying at his head. "I don't getta fight a pretty girl every day!"

"You're a bigger creep than Axel! And coming from me, that means something!" She slipped down to avoid his kick, and thwacked his other leg to knock him to the ground. She then followed up with an elbow to the stomach.

"I thought you were a gun person!" He gasped.

"Screw that!" She snapped. "I'm in a bad mood; I'm fighting dirty."

"Did ya have a lover's quarrel with Ax—" he was cut by Shoshanah's hand punching his mouth and knocking out his two front teeth. A third one also came loose, but he accidentally swallowed that one.

As he choked on the tooth, Shoshanah grabbed his ponytail and yanked. Hard. Xigbar fell back, nearly taking her with him. She regained her footing, before she plopped herself on top of his stomach.

"Get off!" He gasped. "Yer heavy!"

She responded by delivering punch after punch on his face, ignoring—or simply not noticing—him trying to shove her off. His nose cracked and broke, his lip was bleeding, and now she began working on his remaining eye.

"No!" He yelped. "Not the eye! Leave the eye!"

Meanwhile, Axel, Zexion, and the remaining twelve Dusks paused, open-mouthed, watching Xigbar get beat up by the slender, young woman. Axel wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan over the situation.

When Shoshanah finally succeed in blinding him, Zexion turned. "I think you should put him out of his misery. I can take care of the rest."

Axel raised an eyebrow curiously, but did as Zexion suggested. It wasn't easy to pull the half crazy Shoshanah off, but with a few coaxing words, he managed it. The next part, killing Xigbar, wasn't nearly as difficult. Xigbar was mostly gone, anyways, and a few slashes from a chakram ended him.

Satisfied that Xigbar really was gone, Axel focused his attention back to Shoshanah. She had her back to him, and her head was in her hands. Slowly, she sank to the ground, trembling slightly.

Axel walked over to her. "Are you okay?"

She was silent at first. Then, in a voice quivering with fury and, if he let himself believe, despair, she said, "I have you. All of you Nobodies—you're all the same. Evil, heartless, despicable, every last one. I can't believe I let myself think otherwise."

"You could at least thank me…" Axel began.

"For what?" She exploded. She rose and turned, pointing a shaking finger at him. "If it wasn't for you all, I wouldn't be here! I'd never have done that, even close to it! I'd be home! I'd be…." She stopped, and swallowed.

"Sparky…" Axel began, but Zexion interrupted him this time.

"Is it safe to approach?"

"Get out!" Shoshanah screamed, almost losing it again. She slipped and fell against Axel's shoulder. She clutched it, as if it were a lifesaver, and started to sob.

Axel glanced over at the bemused Zexion. "I don't think she's gonna attack. Just wait—I'll handle it."

"Better you than me," Zexion said, casting Shoshanah a dubious glance. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. "Tell me when."

Axel looked back at Shoshanah—this wasn't going to be fun.


	23. A Difficult And Dangerous Mission

Our antihero was about to embark upon a difficult and dangerous mission—far more difficult and dangerous than turning on the Organization and killing several of its members. He was going to try and have a conversation with our heroine in her sobbing, slightly hysterical state without losing his head or any other parts of him.

He decided her crying into his shoulder wasn't going to help any, so he led her to a bench close by, and sat her down.

"All right, Sparky?" He asked. It was a stupid question, but he hard to start somewhere.

Shoshanah hiccupped.

Axel sat tentatively down next to her, judging her not responding to be a pretty good sign, considering.

"So, Sparky, he must have said something that really got to you."

Shoshanah threw her head back and glared at him. That was enough for him to scoot back a bit. "Why do you care? You're just like him!"

That was low. "We're Nobodies, and we once were in the Organization. Other than that, Xigbar and I have nothing in common."

"You both say horrible things without any regard for how I feel!" She cried. "Just because you don't feel anything doesn't mean others don't either!"

Axel tapped the bench, waiting for her breathing to slow to normal before he said, "The thing about being a Nobody: we can't feel, and we don't care if others can as well. It'd happen to you, too, if you lost your heart."

"You don't even _try!" _She shouted, punching the bench for emphasize. "You don't even try to understand!"  
"I don't need to," he said coldly. "I do know what it's like to be hurt. I did have a heart once, you know. Just because I lost it doesn't mean I've forgotten."

Shoshanah pulled her legs up on the bench, and hugged them tightly. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red and over-bright. "I wish I didn't lose it back there." She took a deep breath and continued. "And…it wasn't even all his fault. Ordinarily, I would have just laughed at what he said. But…instead, it just pushed me over the edge."

Axel waited, but she didn't elaborate. "Whose fault was it, then?"

She picked at her shoelace. "Why do you care?" She didn't sound as aggressive as before.

"Because, Sparky," he sighed. "I don't want you to turn on me like that because of something I said."

"Well," Shoshanah said hesitantly. "It is what you said. That nearly made me go nuts."

"Mine!" Axel yelped. He quickly lowered his voice to something a bit more manly, if he did think so himself. "What the hell'd I do?"

She laughed hollowly. "One word. 'Husband.'"

Axel glanced over at the ring on her left hand. "I thought you're married."

"I was."

The past tense was not something he was expecting. "Was?"

"Was," she confirmed. "He's dead. He was killed…six years ago."

Axel let that sink in before asking slowly, "That's…around the time when Heartless and Nobodies invaded your home planet, isn't it?"

"Around that time, yeah."

Slowly, cautiously, pieces began coming together. "Is he actually dead? Or is he a Heartless?"

"He's dead," Shoshanah repeated. "I saw his body."

"And that's why you hate Heartless and Nobodies so much, right?"

"That's right."

Axel closed his eyes and massaged his temples. He heard himself say, without really caring or meaning to, "What happened, exactly?"

"Henry and I were on our honeymoon," Shoshanah began listlessly. "We had been married for a week, I think. I had always wanted to see the mountains on the opposite side of the world, so that's where we went. I was eighteen," she added, as if that was a vital fact he had to remember.

"It started out being just another evening. We were just going back inside the hotel to have dinner when Henry saw some storm cloud. He went to investigate. He thought he was making some new, scientific discovery." She laughed bitterly. "When he didn't come back, I went looking for him. And…I found him."

"How'd you get away?" Axel asked, reopening his eyes and looking at her.

Shoshanah shook her head. "Luck. I was terrified, and that kept me running even when my legs felt like they were gonna die. I have no idea what happened next; everything went black, and I woke up in Traverse Town."

They were silent. Axel focused his gaze on Zexion, who stood like wood against the wall, listening to every word. His face was utterly unreadable.

Shoshanah was the one to break the pause. "Now what? Do you go, or do I go?"

Axel still didn't look at her. "We've made it this far, haven't we? We don't need to ruin all that progress."

"Progress to what? What are we going towards?"

He shrugged. Gently, almost playfully, he nudged her in the ribs. "Whatever we want."


	24. More Explanations

Our antihero, who might very well be on his way to actual hero, stood up and stretched. Our heroine stayed where she was on the bench, staring down at her hands.

Axel strolled over to Zexion. "So, I haven't gotten around to why you're still here yet."

"I noticed," Zexion said dryly.

Axel raised his eyebrows, and waved his hands. "Hello? Can you tell me why you're still here?"

"I'm leaving the Organization," Zexion announced.

Axel eyed him to check if he was joking. But then, with Zexion, it was almost impossible to tell anyways. "Why, may I ask?"

"It's a long story."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'm sure. But somehow, whenever someone says that, the manage to cut it down to only a few minutes. I think you're just saying that to get out of telling me anything."

"Brilliant observation," Zexion noted, still very dryly. "And, when it comes down to things, you're correct. If you must know…"

"I must," Axel interrupted. Zexion paused long enough to give him a disgusted look before continuing.

"Lately, Xemnas has been acting fairly high-handed, and rather foolish as well. He continues to send people to kill your friend, Sparky, even though he knows very well it's little more than suicide for the person."

"Wait," Axel interrupted again. "I thought he's only sent me and Xaldin. And I'm still alive, you notice."

Zexion sighed, and shook his head. "He's sent almost miniature armies to kill her, but I suppose you wouldn't know about that. I don't think they've ever actually reached her. I believe that the keyblade master has been very busy seeing to that."

"Why is so some obsessed with killing me?" Shoshanah asked. She didn't look worried, merely curious. "I'd think someone like Riku would be a bigger threat."

"He's not doing it for you," Zexion said, as if that thought was preposterous. "He's doing it because, I believe, he thinks it will persuade Axel to return. Or, at the very least, provoke him…you, to fight back and hopefully be killed."

"How'd he work that one out?" Axel asked, exchanging a look with Shoshanah.

"I have not the slightest idea. But anyway, he's becoming so consumed by this, he's almost forgetting the Organization's original goal: to gather hearts." Zexion sighed again. "I almost considered joining Marluxia, but then, luckily, I remembered how much we dislike each other."

"Very lucky." Axel glanced up at the sky. "See? I told you it'd only take a few minutes."  
"Very astute of you," Zexion said sarcastically. "Now that I've finished my story, and Shoshanah has finished hers, where is your miniature partner in crime?"

"You mean Roxas?" Axel shrugged. "No idea. I'm not his babysitter."

"Perhaps he found Sora," Shoshanah suggested. She heaved herself up to her feet. "I need to go back to bed. Don't even consider waking me up until after ten." With that warning, she ambled back into the house.

Zexion watched her leave, bemused. "I'll tell you something, Axel. She's very…interesting, but I cannot understand why you're so attracted to her."

"I'll tell ya when I figure it out for myself." Axel glanced up and down the street. "We have a fifty-fifty chance of correctly guessing the way Roxas went."

"'We'?" Zexion repeated, amusement clearly written all over his face. "I'm following Shoshanah's lead, and going to sleep. And, like her, I'll kill you if you wake me up too soon. Have fun hunting Roxas."

Axel heaved a dramatic sigh once Zexion had gone. "Well, it looks like my comrades have all deserted me. I'm all by myself." He glanced at the house, hoping someone (Shoshanah) would hear and, feeling sorry for him, would come to help. But if anyone, much less Shoshanah, heard, they didn't let on.

"Fine," Axel grumbled. "Be that way." He chose a random direction and began walking.

Ten minutes later, he found he had walked in a circle. Swearing, he kicked a skateboard, which went flying into the garbage cans on the opposite side of the street.

"Hey! You, Axel!"

Axel glanced over his shoulder, and saw Riku dragging a very talkative and slightly swaying Sora by the sleeve. Donald and Goofy followed close behind, looking guilty.

"What's up?" Axel asked. He eyed Sora suspiciously, who hiccupped.

"Sora has just discovered alcohol," Riku explained, tugging harder on Sora's sleeve.

"Come on!" Sora jabbered. "One little sip? I'll let you have some too! Come on, Riku! Come on, come on, come on! Please please pretty please? Just one sip more? What could it do? Come on, Riku! Please?"

"How did he get alcohol?" Axel asked, poking Sora as if that would give him the answer.

"I have no idea," Riku replied, casting an angry look at Goofy and Donald.

"Hey! You're Axel, right? Shoshanah told me! You have funny hair! Will you let me have a sip? Please? I'll be your bestest friend!"

"How much alcohol did he drink?" Axel laughed. "He's drunk!"

"Actually," Riku corrected. "I think he just can't hold his beer very well. His cup was almost full when I pried it away from him."

"Did you just say beer? I just had some! It was really good. Can I have some more?"

"Are you sure there wasn't any caffeine mixed in there?" Axel asked curiously.

"I don't care," Riku snapped. "Help me. He needs to go to bed."

"I don't wanna go to bed! I wanna stay up all night and party!"

"I'll help you," Axel told him. "And then I need to go find Roxas."

"Oh…." Riku now looked uncomfortable. "Interesting thing about Roxas. He, well, found Sora, but…."

"But what?" Axel did not like the way this was going. "What happened?"

"He got…kinda sucked into him, you know?"

"No. I don't."

"He's inside of me!" Sora said happily. "I ate him!"

"You WHAT?"

"No, you didn't, Sora," Riku said, sounding very much like a mother. "You're not a cannibal."

"Cannonball!" Sora screamed, like a five-year-old girl. "Boom! I just ate you too!"

"Not cannonball, cannibal! Someone who eats…you know what? Forget it." Riku turned back to Axel. "Anyway, Roxas and Sora are now one person, or whatever you wanna call it. So, do you mind?" He nodded towards the door.

Axel crossed his arms. "Yes, actually. I've had a long night, and I think I'm gonna get drunk. See you around, Riku." He considered telling Riku about Zexion, but then decided it'd be more entertaining for him not to know.

Once the party disappeared, Axel sank back onto the bench, and ran his hands through his hair. Whatever his reasons were for staying were being snipped off one by one. In fact, he didn't know why he hadn't left yet.

A figure moving in the window caught his attention. Shoshanah hadn't quite gone to bed yet; her face shone concerned back at him for a brief moment before disappearing.

Perhaps there was one thing still to tie him to this place.

-

First of all, I probably won't be posting for a while. I having a really busy week, but I'll try to post again this week. But don't hold your breath.

My brother informs me I have ruined Sora. While I don't actually care what my brother thinks, for the most part, I am curious what other people think.


	25. Hotheaded Fools

Our heroine knew she was awake, but she refused to open her eyes. Strangely, considering what had been happening, she felt safe and warm, and was in no hurry to ruin those feelings by getting up. Instead, she snuggled deeper under the blankets and sighed happily.

Unexpectedly, something moved—something on top of her. Shoshanah shot up, and what she saw made her scream.

Axel blinked up at her resentfully. His arm, Shoshanah realized, was what had moved—it had been draped over her chest.

"Come on, Sparky. Can you get any louder?"

"Ooo…" Shoshanah said, breathing heavily. "I have not yet begun to get loud. What are you doing on my bed?"

"I _was_ sleeping." He sat up, too. "I thought you could figure that part out, at least."

"And it's so difficult for you to sleep on a couch?"

"Why'd I wanna do that?" Axel asked mischievously. Abruptly, he sobered. "Did you hear what happened to Roxas?"

"Riku told me." Shoshanah was not angry enough to not feel sorry for him. "I heard him and Sora blundered upstairs, and I had to go check what was going on." She hesitated before adding, "I'm really sorry, Axel. I know he was your best friend."

"Yeah." He hunched over, and stared down at his gloved hands.

"And…" Shoshanah began again, without knowing what she was going to say. But Axel interrupted her.

"It's my fault, ya know. I should've guessed what was gonna happen if he did run into Sora. I could've stopped him."

"Roxas made his own choice," Shoshanah told him sternly. "And there's nothing you could have done about that; no point in beating yourself up over it. But…." Again, she paused. "But, at least he's not actually _dead,_ you know. I mean, there's still a chance you can see him again."

"As opposed to you and Henry?" Axel asked bitterly.

Hearing Henry's name thrown out so casually and with such a crass manner, Shoshanah felt as if she had been stung. She bit back a number of angry retorts, remembering that he had just lost someone he cared about and was therefore not likely to be particularly tactful. Instead, she fished around for something sensitive but true to say. Nothing came to mind.

Axel seemed to realize he crossed a line. "Sorry, Sparky."

"It's fine," Shoshanah said, relieved he had spoken first.

"There's an Organization member here!" Riku shouted, running in through the door. "Shoshanah, hurry…." He stopped, confused, staring at Shoshanah and Axel, who had been leaning unconsciously toward each other. "Oh! Sorry…I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll…just go."

"No! It's not like that!" Shoshanah cried hurriedly, casting an embarrassed look at Axel. "Riku, really…" but Riku had already snuck out the door, his face as red as hers. "Shit."

"What's the matter?" Axel asked, offended. "You don't wanna do with me what he thinks you doing with me?"

"What?"

"Because I'm a Nobody?"

"You make no sense," Shoshanah informed him. "I need to get dressed. Go away."

"Sure thing, Sparky," Axel grinned weakly. "I'll go clear a few things up with poor, befuddled Riku."

Once Shoshanah had changed, she strolled into the kitchen were Riku and Axel were busy having a very heated argument. Zexion was leaning against the counter, watching mildly amused while he ate a bowl of cold cereal.

"I don't care if you're older! I at least am human!" Riku exclaimed. "So don't tell me what to do!"

"Being human has nothing to do with this!" Axel disagreed. Smoke began swirling around him, and set the smoke detector off. Over the noise, Axel shouted, "And you have no sense of leadership! You think you know so much, but you're just an egotistical, self-absorbed little brat!"

"And you're a scheming, diabolical monster!" Riku yelled back.

Sparks began flashing in the air around Axel. Shoshanah decided it was time to act. "SHUT UP!"

The three males all turned to face her. For a moment, the only sound was the smoke detector's wailing. Finally, Shoshanah spoke again. "What is this all about?"

They both started again.

"He's ordering me around…"

"He absolutely refuses to listen…"

"I've been here longer…"

"I know what I'm doing…"

"He thinks he knows everything!"  
"He thinks he knows everything!"  
"Stop!" Shoshanah said firmly. "This isn't getting anywhere." She gritted her teeth. "And will someone please shut that thing up?"

Zexion sighed, and put his bowl on the counter. "I suppose that means me." He left. Silence soon followed.

Shoshanah took a few deep breaths through her nose before continuing. "Okay. Riku. What happened?"

"He's acting like some sort of emperor!" Riku said hotly. Axel snorted, but one look from Shoshanah quieted him. "He comes in here, sprouting off orders, and expects me to bow to his every wish!"

"That's nice, Riku," Shoshanah said carefully, while behind her, Axel and Zexion were both rolling their eyes. "But what did he tell you to do?"

"He _says_," Riku stressed the word heavily. "That we should allow more Nobodies in! He wants us to go to the Organization, and try and persuade some to join us! Soon, there'll be more Nobodies here than actual people! And we're fighting _against_ the Nobodies!" He added, as if that hadn't been clear before.

"He wants us to be completely outnumbered!" Axel argued. "If only _real people_ fight against the Organization, you'll all die!"

"Why does that matter to you?' Riku sneered. "You're one of the enemy! You want us to let in more Nobodies just so you can turn on us!"

"I've changed sides, in case you didn't notice it!"

"That doesn't mean you can order me around!"

"This is what this is over?" Shoshanah asked in disbelief. "Who can order who around?"

Zexion cackled, but Axel and Riku fell silent. Shoshanah drew herself up to her full height.

"Well, you wanna know something? Neither of you can order anyone around because both of you are too busy proving how manly you are, you can't think with you're heads. I'm taking over the damn leadership position, and if either of you argue with me, I'm shooting you both!"

"Does this include me?" Zexion quipped. His eyes twinkled—he was enjoying all this.

Shoshanah pursed her lips. "As long as you don't act like some hotheaded fool, no." With that, she reached for the cereal box, and poured some out for her breakfast.

-

Alright, so I lied and I took awhile to post. Ah, sigh, but that's the way things went.

Anyways, this chapter was another pretty fun one to write, and I hope it was just as fun to read. At least marginally.


	26. Miniature Armies

As our heroine had her breakfast, our antihero strutted over and leaned against the table. He propped an elbow up, and watched her eat in silence for a few moments.

"You know that's really creepy, right, Axel?" Shoshanah said after he hadn't moved.

"I was just thinking," Axel started lightly.

"Oh, no. Don't hurt your head."

He ignored this. "So, great and wise leader, what is your plan of action?"

Shoshanah set down her spoon. "What? A plan? I didn't think…."

"I didn't think so, either," Axel said smugly. He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "Can I assume leadership?"

"Over my dead body," Shoshanah replied carelessly. She began shoveling food in her mouth, giving herself an excuse not to continue.

"Well," Axel said, watching her chew and swallow with only the slightest hint of amusement. "If you don't know what we're doing, wouldn't it be better for me to take over? For the good of everyone, of course."

"So you and Riku can throw more hissy fits? I don't think so, buddy."

"Fine. If you won't accept my offer, will you at least listen to my ideas?"

"I'll tell you what…" Shoshanah glanced both ways, as if to make sure no one was listening. Then she leaned forward, and whispered, "If you run them through Zexion first, I'll consider them."

Axel frowned. "Why Zexion?"

"He has brains."

"Meaning I don't?"

"You said it, not me." Shoshanah stood, and laughed at his expression. "Oh, come on, Axel. You know I'll listen to your ideas."

Axel straightened. "I don't need to take this. I can leave right now." Despite his words, a smile twitched on his face.

Shoshanah began to answer playfully, but a loud _thunk_ stopped her. "What was that?"  
"Dunno."

Right on cue, Zexion came sprinting into the room. "Remember those miniature armies I told you about? Well, without the Keyblade Master out of commission, they've arrived."

"Looks like your first mission as general, General," Axel grinned. He summoned his chakrams. "Shall you go first, or shall I?"

"Why can't these things happen after breakfast?" Shoshanah groaned. She slid out of her chair. "Don't wait up; I'll be right out."

"Righto." Axel sprinted out the door, followed rather reluctantly by Zexion.

Once Shoshanah was ready, she ran out the door. What she saw directly in front of her made her stop.

Turning to Zexion, she asked, "This is what you call a _miniature_ army?"

Zexion shrugged. "It's a relative term."

Shoshanah shook her head to show her disgust, but refrained from answering.

Axel bounded over, waving his chakrams and grinning from ear to ear. "Are you guys gonna fight, or am I gonna have to do it all?"

"Like you'd mind," Zexion snorted.

"We're coming," Shoshanah said at the same time. She followed Axel straight into the thick of the fray.

"Plenty for all of us," he observed while chopping a Dusk's head off. He turned 180 degrees, and lit the one directly in front of him on fire.

"You're better at this than I am," Shoshanah said, with a touch of envy.

"Practice," Axel explained. "And natural talent, of course."

"Of course," Shoshanah agreed with a straight face. She shot a few Dusks before continuing. "I'm better at long range than close, any-oh!" The 'oh' came when a Dusk pulled her arm backwards. She stomped its foot, hard, with her heel. The Dusk let go just before Axel turned it into cinders.

"Thanks," Shoshanah said gratefully. She couldn't spend much time on gratitude, though, as the other Dusks began converging on her. She grabbed the closest one by the neck and started swinging it in a circle. The Dusks it hit went flying in every direction (one hit Riku on the back of his head), but when it sunk its teeth into her arm, she had to let go.

Axel bonked the new-released Dusk on the skull with his chakram. "Nice job, Sparky."

Shoshanah grinned appreciatively. The Dusks that had been chased away before now flew towards her at a speed that they should never have dreamed of going. Shoshanah dropped and rolled away, and the Dusks crashed head first into each other. She rolled straight into a group that were attacking Zexion. Their attention diverted, they turned and leapt on top of her. Shoshanah shrieked, and kicked. But there were too many on top of her, and her attacks did almost nothing.

A black-gloved hand reached in, and grabbed the back of her shirt. With a horrendous effort, Axel pulled the thrashing woman out of the mountains of Dusks. As he set her on her feet, he lit the heap on fire.

"Be careful," he scolded.

"You don't need to tell me twice," she agreed, shivering.

A strange light entered Axel's eyes. "Shoshanah…" he began to say, but something over her shoulder caught his attention. He shoved her back onto the ground. Immediately, twenty Dusks flew into him. And more kept coming, piling higher and higher on him.

"Axel!" Shoshanah screamed. She fired wildly, but taking down one Nobody didn't effect the other thirty or so. She abandoned her gun, and instead ran straight at the pile. This time, a different gloved hand caught her.

"Don't bother," Zexion said softly. "He's already gone."

Shoshanah watched helplessly, tears streaming down her face, as Axel and the Dusks disappeared.


	27. The Plan

Our heroine sat with her remaining allies at the table in the dinning room. She gazed around at each one, trying to decide what was best to say first. She knew it wouldn't be easy convincing everyone to go with her plan, mainly Riku, but she had to try.

"So," she started. "As you know, Axel's been taken by the Organization." She paused to swallow. There were still red streaks running down her cheeks from all her crying.

"What are we supposed to do about that?" Riku asked before she could continue.

"We have to save him," Shoshanah said, frowning slightly. She hadn't expected protested this soon in her presentation.

"He's probably already disappeared," Zexion pointed out. "Xemnas wouldn't want to waste time."

"That doesn't mean we can't try," Shoshanah snapped. Her voice quavered very slightly.

"Why do you want to save him so much?" Riku asked, exchanging looks with Zexion. Probably the first time they'd ever agreed on anything.

"Because he's one of us," Shoshanah said quickly.

Sora nodded. "I agree. Let's go save him! And get all those stupid Nobodies, too!"

"Excuse me," Zexion said in a voice dripping with coldness. "I'm a Nobody, and I'm far from stupid."

Shoshanah began to feel the conversation was getting out of hand. "That isn't the point…"

"No," Riku agreed. "The point is you want to save a traitor. And you haven't told us yet _why."_

"I told you…"

"That's not your reasoning, though," Zexion said shrewdly. "Not your real reasoning, at least."

"Yes, it is," Shoshanah protested weakly.

Both Riku and Zexion smelled victory, and moved in for the kill. "It's not reason enough to explain why you were crying for an hour before this meeting," Riku said triumphantly.

"I wasn't…"

"Like your heart was broken," Zexion added, with a humorless smile.

"My heart isn't…"

"Don't deny it," Riku advised.

"I'm not…"

"Then why do you want to save him?" Zexion asked.

"Because I love him!" Shoshanah exploded. "And I can't believe I just said that out loud!"

Riku, Sora, Zexion, Donald, and Goofy were silent, processing that new information. One could almost hear crickets in the background.

Sora was the first to recover. "Are you sure? How do you know? When did it happen?"

Shoshanah bit her lip. This wasn't exactly the easiest topic for her to discuss. "I'm…really not sure. I just know. And I don't know when it happened; I didn't realize it at first." She fell silent; her cheeks had gone pink.

Finally, Zexion said, "Well, at least we have that straightened out. How do you propose we rescue him?"

Happiness bubbled inside Shoshanah, and for a moment, she could have hugged the annoying, smirking, smart-ass Nobody. "If you can get us in there, and one of us causes a distraction, I'm sure I can find him."

"If he's not already gone," Zexion said. "If he's not, he's either in a dudgeon or the Room Where Nothing Gathers, on 'trial.'"

"Can you get me there?" Shoshanah asked.

Zexion shrugged. "Easily. If we don't meet anyone along the way."

"What about us?" Sora asked, looking a little put out.

"You, Donald, Goofy, and…" Shoshanah hesitated. "Riku, if he wants to come, just need to make as much ruckus as possible. Take down as many members as you can." She turned towards Riku, who did not look very happy the way the conversation was going. "Do you want to come, Riku?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "A chance to kill Nobodies? How could I pass that up?" He paused. "I can probably warp there, too. And I can take Sora and co."

Shoshanah clapped her hands. "Wonderful. You guys go first. We'll be right after."

"Are you sure you can find it?" Zexion asked Riku.

Riku snorted. "The World That Never Was? No problem."

Sora bounced up and down in his chair. "Is that all? Are we going now?"

"Yep," Shoshanah said. "Just let me reload, and we'll be on our way. And," she added, suddenly hostile. "If any of you, _any_ of you, should mention what I told you about…how I feel about Axel, I will rip out your tongues and feed them to the fish! Understand?"

One look at her face was all it took to confirm that she meant it.

-

Short, but pretty important, no?


	28. The Battle Begins

Now that I've told you of our heroine's decision, it is time to move on to our antihero, who was, if you'll pardon my language, completely screwed.

Axel stood in the middle of the Room Where Nothing Gathers, and was doing his best to ignore his former colleague's snickers and hisses. There were only five left, including Xemnas, so it wasn't particularly difficult to avert his eyes.

"Silence!" Xemnas rumbled. Silence was immediate.

Axel made a snap decision not to go down cowering and begging for forgiveness. He raised his eyes to meet Xemnas' cold ones, and smirked slightly to show how little he was impressed by all the show.

Xemnas was not impressed, either. "You know what will happen to you, don't you, Axel? You knew the whole time, or you're a bigger fool than I supposed."

"My disappearing won't change what happened," Axel informed them. "The Organization's already dying, and it's not gonna last much longer. They're killing Nobodies faster than you can make them. If you don't believe me, just wait. One by one, each of you are gonna disappear."

"That belief will do nothing to change your fate," Xemnas replied.

"And your indifference won't change yours," Axel said coldly. "Our fates were sealed the second we lost our hearts."

Xemnas and Saïx exchanged looks; Marluxia looked eager; Lexaeus stared dispassionately at the wall; Demyx glanced nervously around at his fellows and then at Axel.

Axel caught his look, and grinned. "I'm surprised you've lasted this long, Dem. Have you been lucky, or just been hiding?"

Demyx stiffened before he realized Axel was teasing. He cracked a smile. "Hiding mostly. Letting Lexaeus do the dirty work, and all that."

"Explains a few things," Axel laughed.

Saïx sensed the merriment, and immediately set out to squash it. "That's enough, Number Nine," he ordered. "No talking to the prisoner, or you shall be punished exceedingly cruelly."

"Nice way to put it," Axel snorted. "Long, but nice."

Xemnas glared. "You are in no position to make judgments, traitor. We've talked too long; it's time to get rid of you once and for all."

"Then do it," Axel taunted. "And stop chitchatting. Got it memorized?"

Xemnas raised his hand. For a second, nothing happened. Then a loud bang caught them all off guard. All six Nobodies turned to the door, as if expecting someone to appear. Shouts and squeals rang out from several stories below.

"Lexaeus, take care of the prisoner," Xemnas ordered, as if attacks on his secret base happened all the time. "Everyone else, stop the intruders." He warped immediately after giving the instructions. Saïx was quick to follow, and Demyx as well, although he didn't look happy about it. Marluxia, however, jumped down from his throne.

"I can take him, Marluxia," Lexaeus said woodenly.

"I just want to talk to him," Marluxia said smoothly. "It won't take long." He walked over to Axel, and grabbed his shoulder. Almost inaudibly, he whispered, "If I get out, will you help me overthrow Xemnas?"

"So you can be Superior?" Axel asked. "We're trying to destroy the entire Organization, not just Xemnas alone."

Marluxia shrugged. "So I'll help you do that. It doesn't matter to me."

"Just as you're in charge of something?" Axel guessed. He sighed. "Sure. Why not?"

"Great!" Marluxia said happily. He drew his scythe, and turned on Lexaeus. Lexaeus had about enough time to blink before his head was soaring through the air. His body collapsed, and disappeared into the darkness.

Axel watched him go with an intrigued expression. "That was quick. Good job, Marluxia."

"Anytime," Marluxia said, cutting Axel's chains. "Now, those are probably your friends downstairs. Shall we go help them?"

Axel's thoughts jumped to a young, blond woman, and something seemed to bubble inside him. "I hope your wrong," he said.

"Why?" Marluxia asked, looking curiously at him.

That jerked Axel out of his short meditation. Why didn't he want her here? The answer came to his lips without any help from his mind. "There're just so many Nobodies here. She can't fight them all."

"'She'?" Marluxia said, as if he had never heard the word before. "Sparky, you mean? Since when did you care what happened to her?"

"Never mind," Axel snapped. "It's complicated. Let's go."

The two men warped out the room, and reappeared right in the middle of the fight. Axel hastily looked around. He found Sora and co fighting on one side of the room and Riku on the other side. But there was no sign of blond among the sea of white. Axel was sure if he should be relieved or insulted.

Riku caught sight of him. "Are you gonna stand around, or are you gonna fight?" He shouted.

"Nice kid," Marluxia muttered, starting his attack.

Axel hesitated. Then Sora looked up, and for one fleeting second, Axel was certain it was Roxas staring accusingly at him. Without a word, Axel sprinted forward to join the fight.


	29. Shoshanah's Battle

We know our antihero fought bravely alongside Marluxia, Riku, Sora, and co, but where was our heroine? Well, she had made it into the castle with Zexion, and the two of them were currently running down the hallways.

Shoshanah was not too happy with him. "I thought you said he'd be in the Room Where Nothing Gathers?"

"Or a dungeon," Zexion added.

"Or a dungeon," Shoshanah repeated dryly. "But he's neither in the Room Where Nothing Gathers _nor_ a dungeon."

"They've probably already eliminated him," Zexion shrugged dispassionately. "This was a fool's errand."

"I'll be the one to decide that," Shoshanah retorted. "Come on. We haven't lost yet." She turned a random corner, and sprinted down the corridor. Catching sight of a large Roman numeral 'eight' on one door, she screeched to a halt. Curiously, she peered inside. "Is this Axel's room?"

"Was," Zexion corrected.

"Was," Shoshanah repeated absentmindedly. "It looks rather bare."

"We generally never spend much time in our rooms, so we rarely bother to decorate them," he explained. "And, after he left, Xemnas wasn't going to just leave it as a monument to him, or anything like that. He preferred to eliminate all traces of the traitor. Roxas' room received the same treatment, and mine as well, I assume."

Shoshanah nodded. She closed the door, and turned around in time to see a corridor of darkness appear. "Zexion! Behind you!"

Zexion swung around, lexicon ready, as Saïx stepped out. His eyes traveled across Zexion and rested on Shoshanah. He smirked.

"I had a feeling you'd come here," he said smugly. "Clearly, I was right."

"Lucky guess," Shoshanah disregarded. "We never intended to come this way."

"Does it matter?" Saïx asked, still smug. "The reasons don't change anything."

Shoshanah stuck out her tongue, feeling very elementary-schoolish. After all, small, petty victories were worth it.

Saïx ignored her small, petty victory. Instead, he observed, "Did you know all these problems started when Axel and Roxas utterly destroyed my room? If that didn't happen, the Superior would never have sent him to Castle Oblivion, and you two might never have met."

"Fascinating," Shoshanah said sarcastically. "At least, if I actually cared. But I don't. So why don't we end this pleasant conversation, and just kill each other?"

"Sounds good to me," Zexion seconded.

Saïx snapped his fingers. Instantly, four Berserker Nobodies popped out of thin air. They paused for a brief second, and then two turned on Zexion and the other two attacked Shoshanah.

"Bastard!" Shoshanah managed to splutter before focusing her attention on the Nobodies.

It turned out, it was quite difficult to defeat a person when he kept making more and more enemies appear. Every time Shoshanah and Zexion took down a Berserker, Saïx would snap his fingers, and another would take its place. And every time he did that, Shoshanah would be sure to call him a bastard, or whatever insult was hanging on the tip of her tongue. In other words, if Saïx cared what she said, his ego would have taken quite a dip.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" She finally exploded. "You keep this up, no one's gonna win!"

"Oh, I'm winning," Saïx said lightly, snapping his fingers again to replace Shoshanah's newly killed Nobody. "Eventually you'll get so tired, you'll make a mistake."

"Brilliant plan," Zexion said dryly. "But why don't you just send ten Nobodies at us at once, and be done with it?"

"Shut up!" Shoshanah hissed.

Saïx shrugged. "I don't know how many I can use. Most of them are being used elsewhere currently. But you probably know that already."

Shoshanah dodged a claymore, and retreated back into Axel's room. The Nobodies followed robotically.

"Running won't help," Saïx called after her.

Shoshanah ignored him. She ducked behind the bed, and waited until one Nobody poked its ugly head around. Once that happened, she kicked with her good leg. The Nobody stumbled backwards, giving Shoshanah some room to stand again. She followed the kick up with another, sending the Nobody onto its fellow. The two of them lost balance, and fell out the window.

Shoshanah wiped the sweat off her forehead, and fished out a gun hidden deep in her pocket. It was her last one, so she'd have to use it sparingly. Satisfied, she inched back towards the door.

Just in time, Saïx glanced in to see what had happened with his Nobodies. Instead what he saw was the handle of Shoshanah's gun crashing against his nose. It was not exactly what he had expected, and the shock sent him to the ground. He didn't stay there for long. He crawled rapidly into the room, to the window.

"Moon!" Zexion spat out in warning. He only fought one Nobody now, but was also exhausted, and couldn't spend the energy for more than one syllable.

Shoshanah didn't have time to respond. Saïx's attack had begun, and it sent her crashing to the ceiling. Clinging to the light, she tried to catch her breath, but was knocked down by Saïx's claymore. After being thrown from ceiling to floor to wall and all over again several times, she began to resemble nothing more than a rag doll.

Fortunately, the moon's power in Saïx seemed to be waning. He pulled back to recuperate, leaving Shoshanah panting on the ground.

Shoshanah struggled to her feet, swearing under her breath with every movement. Her hand grasped her gun, and, tremblingly, she brought it up to point directly at the place Saïx's heart should have been. Taking a deep breath, she shot three times.

Saïx fell to the ground. He looked through his blue hair to see the holes in his chest. Then he looked back at Shoshanah. Finally, he looked back out the window.

As the black cloud closed around his body, he said faintly, "It wasn't supposed to end like this…"

"This was never suppose to happen in the first place," Shoshanah retorted hoarsely.

Saïx smiled, and then he was gone.

Utterly spent, Shoshanah staggered to the door. "Why is it," she muttered. "Every battle ends with me looking like shit?" She glanced up, as if expecting an answer. Instead, she found Zexion talking to another black-coated man.

"Who are you?" Shoshanah snarled, grabbing her empty pistol.

Zexion shook his head at her reaction. "It's alright, Sparky. It's only Demyx."

"We've met," Demyx said happily. Eyeing her gun cautiously, he held out one hand.

Shoshanah didn't take it. "I don't remember you," she said coldly.

Demyx sighed, disappointed, and lowered his hand. "I think you were drunk, anyways," he said mournfully. "You made me dance with you."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

Zexion interrupted any response Demyx might have been able to come up with. "Demyx offered to help us, Sparky. So try to be polite. I know it's difficult for you."

"I'm polite," she said stiffly. Zexion raised an eyebrow, and she giggled reluctantly. "Or not. But how can you trust him?"

"Axel's a friend," Demyx explained. "Or the closest thing I have to a friend now. I'd hate it if something bad happened to him." He nodded eagerly. "And I can take you to where he is now! I know he got away, and I know he's helping your friends fight. If you'll follow me…."

Shoshanah pulled a skeptical face. Demyx blushed, strangely enough, and looked quickly away from her.

"It's settled," Zexion said, businesslike. "Now, shall we go join the fight?"

Shoshanah quit looking so dubiously at Demyx, and nodded her assent.

After they ran for a while, a sixth sense began to tell Shoshanah that something was not right. She slowed down, and froze. Looking around, she saw nothing out of whack, but that didn't quell her misgivings.

Realizing she had stopped, Demyx and Zexion turned and looked at her inquisitively.

"Go on," she said. "I'll catch up later." When Demyx hesitated, she repeated, "Go! The battle isn't waiting for you."

"It's not waiting for you, either," he said uncertainly.

"I'll be right there," she said again. "Go help. I just wanna check something out."

Finally, Demyx ran after Zexion. Shoshanah, then, glanced around, examining every nock and cranny, looking for whatever was setting her hair on end.

Ducking inside what appeared to be a storage room, our heroine caught a glimpse of something orange before everything went black.


	30. Axel's Choice

Things look good for our heroes, yes? Only Xemnas left in the Organization, three humans, four Nobodies, one dog, and one duck to fight against him. Should be easy, correct?

Wrong. Because, as our antihero is currently discovering, never underestimate hundreds and thousands of seemingly weak opponents attacking you all at once.

"How many are there?" Riku yelled, after what seemed like he had been fighting the little monsters for eternity.

"Too many to count!" Axel yelled back. He chopped one in two, and three more took its place.

"I figured that," Riku muttered. Louder, he asked, "Where's Shoshanah? Why isn't she here?"

"Miss Sparky's here?" Marluxia asked curiously.

"We never saw her," Axel said uncertainly. He cut down a swaying Dusk, which crashed into two others. All three disappeared.

"You mean she never found you?" Riku asked incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me! Where the hell is she?"

No one responded. Even if they had a chance to (which they didn't, because another wave of Nobodies had attacked at that very moment), none of them knew the answer.

Axel half-danced around the room, avoiding Nobodies' attacks and striking out with his flaming chakrams whenever possible. It appeared he was concentrating deeply in the battle, but in reality, his mind had become engaged elsewhere. He had decided Sparky not being present was a good thing—it was too dangerous, and she proved herself to be only mediocre when it came to close combat. But she was there! Somewhere, at least! Why couldn't she have simply stayed away, where she was safe?

He finally determined it didn't make sense, and women were idiots. And the only thing to do was to find her.

"Riku!" He shouted. "Riku!"

Riku was on the opposite side of the room, and didn't hear. Desperately, Axel glanced around, but finding no one who appeared able to listen, decided no one would notice if he snuck out anyways.

He blew a stream of fire out, and ran down its path to the door. Upon reaching it, he found it blocked.

"Abandoning your friends?" Marluxia asked, smirking.

Axel tensed. "What do you want, Marluxia?"

"You're looking for Xemnas, aren't you?" Marluxia replied. "I want to come with you."

Axel opened his mouth, but thought better of what he was going to say. "Sure, Marluxia. I'm going to hunt Xemnas. But you should probably stay and help here."

"If you can look for Xemnas," Marluxia said severely. "So can I. I'm coming with you. Deal with it. I can help."

Axel raised an eyebrow. In all honesty, he was very willing to have Marluxia join him to…ahem, track down Xemnas, but if he knew if he let that show, and Riku found out, he'd have his skin.

"Fine," he said, after he apparently thought hard about it. "You can come, but we have to be quick." Otherwise, she might not be alive, he added mentally.

The two of them ran out the door, killing a few Dusks here and there as they went. Up the stairs, down the stairs, around the stairs, all over the castle. Marluxia was very quickly reduced to panting and cursing himself for joining this venture and Axel for letting him. Axel completely ignored the complaints. Something, and he didn't know what, was telling him to keep going, to keep running, and he was going to listen to it, dammit.

"Why couldn't we have warped?" Marluxia whined after another door revealed no Xemnas or Shoshanah.

"Be_cause_," Axel replied, as if Marluxia was a bit slow. "We don't know where she is, and in order to warp somewhere, we have to know _where_ we're warping to."

"Did you just say 'she'?" Marluxia asked curiously.

Axel paused to reflect what he had just said. "No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. I distinctly heard an 's'." Marluxia grabbed his arm tightly. "Who are you looking for, Axel? It's not Xemnas."

Axel wrenched his arm out of Marluxia's grip. "Why the hell do you care, Marluxia? We'll probably find Xemnas along the way, so just tag along like a good boy."

Marluxia's face darkened. "I do not have to stand for this, traitor!"

"Look who's talking!" Axel spat back. "You were plotting against the Organization long before I left it!"

Marluxia growled, and swung his scythe to point at the redheaded man. Axel tensed, ready for the blow. But just as it began, a scream rang out, freezing them both. Silence followed, thick with tension, before another, longer scream.

"A woman," Marluxia observed. He cast Axel a beady look. "Probably the one you were searching for."

Axel didn't answer. He was already running to its source.

Now, we'll make a quick switch over to our—guess who?—villain and our heroine. Because, yes, it was our villain who had captured our heroine, and who was currently pointing one of his aerial blades at her throat. Shoshanah, who was still exhausted from her battle with Saïx, was in no condition to run or fight back. But she heard voices nearby, and had judged her best chance of survival was to alert them to her presence by screaming.

"Be quiet," Xemnas said coldly. "I'm not going to kill you. I need you."

That left Shoshanah curious enough to stop. "You need me?" She asked skeptically. She sat up, wincing as she did so. "I'm flattered, but you're not my type."

Xemnas did not appear amused. But then again, he did not appear much of anything but apathetic. "I didn't mean in that way, fool. You'll see what I mean. And then I'll kill you," he added.

"In that case, I hope you don't mind if I don't cooperate," Shoshanah said sarcastically. With a deep breath, she was ready to begin screaming again.

Xemnas rested his blade over her heart. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Shoshanah's response was shrill and loud and seemed to be heard for miles and miles.

Xemnas resisted the urge to cover his ears. At that same time, he felt a sharp pain between his shoulder blades. He spun around.

Axel caught his chakram smoothly, and prepared to attack again. Marluxia stood close behind him, as ready as he.

Xemnas smiled. "You're wasted fighting for them, Axel."

Axel's response? It involved his middle finger.

"Charming," Xemnas said, still unmoved. "But now that you're here, it makes things so much easier. You can kill me, Axel; I won't stop you. Or…." With one fluid motion, he turned to a rising Shoshanah, and plunged one blade into her chest. "You can save her. But you can only do one."


	31. Sacrifice

There wasn't any time for Axel to stop and think. He never considered if what he was doing was right or not. He ignored Marluxia's yells of protest, or Xemnas' smirk. He didn't mull over what might happen if he took the other option, because as far as he was concerned, there was no option. One by one he had lost everyone he cared about; he wasn't about to lose Shoshanah. He skidded past Xemnas, and knelt beside the fallen woman.

"Axel! He's giving you a free shot!" Marluxia cried in disbelief.

Axel still didn't answer. He felt Shoshanah's heartbeat grow fainter and fainter as the blood drained away from her face, out through the wound.

"So what if she dies!" Marluxia yelled. "You can end this! Right now!"

"You end this!" Axel snarled. "But I'm not letting her be sacrificed for your lust of power! Get it memorized!"

Marluxia growled, but he backed off. Instead, he took a running leap at Xemnas. Xemnas sighed, and brought his aerial blades up in defense. When Marluxia was inches away from him, he warped away.

"What the…" Marluxia began, but stopped.

Axel glanced up from bandaging the wound in time to see Marluxia fading away, with Xemnas behind him.

"I'm afraid the bargain only extended to Axel, Marluxia," he said unemotionally. He faced Axel again. "But you should have listened to him, Axel. You ruined my Organization, you and that bitch, and I can't let you get away with that."

"If you were just gonna kill us, why the hell did ya make that 'bargain'?"

Xemnas stalked forward, like a tiger. "Excellent question. I wanted to see what you'd do. I betted you couldn't let her die, and I was correct. You should never let yourself become too attached to a single being, Axel; especially when you're a Nobody. It never leads to anything."

"Fabulous," Axel muttered. "He's lecturing me." He finished wrapping up Shoshanah's chest. Reaching into his pocket, he found a spare potion, and force-fed it down her throat. "You're not going to stop me?" He asked when Xemnas did nothing.

"Potions only go so far," Xemnas said mildly. "With damage like that, you need something more powerful to keep her alive for over an hour."

"Gives me enough time, though," Axel pointed out, standing. Shoshanah's head rolled on the floor, and her mismatched eyes flickered open for the briefest second.

"If you survive," Xemnas retorted. Without warning, he spun his aerial blades around. They tore at Axel's clothing, but nothing else as our antihero skipped back a few paces.

Axel's mind scrambled. Every advantage seemed to be Xemnas': he was a better fighter, was in better condition, and had nothing to lose. Axel, meanwhile, had a wounded girl to protect. This was not going to be easy.

He started with his trademark ring of fire, and disappeared in the flames. Hopefully that would confuse Xemnas enough to knock him off his game. And, as a bonus, they provided extra protection for Sparky.

However, the fire didn't seem to faze Xemnas in the slightest. "You're really planning on fighting me, Axel? You know what the smartest response would be? Leave the girl and run. Then at least you'd have a chance to survive."

"I guess I'm not very smart, then," Axel snorted. He quickly assessed the room: other than a few boxes, the light hanging from the ceiling, and a large, ugly pot, there wasn't anything he could use.

"Clearly," Xemnas said, replying to Axel's statement. "For example, you should've killed me before—I really would've let you—but instead you choose to save the girl for a few minutes, and allow yourself to be killed as well."

"_Some_one's overconfident," Axel remarked. "Ya know, Xemmy, I ain't dead yet."

Xemnas frowned, but otherwise ignored the nickname.

A box beside Axel exploded, and he whirled his chakrams around in time before Xemnas' blades chopped his head off. Xemnas smirked slightly, disappeared, and reappeared on the opposite side of the room.

"Warping is a pain when others do it to you," Axel muttered. The ring of fire he brought down—it'd just take energy to keep it up, and it wouldn't keep Xemnas back.

He leapt onto one of the boxes to avoid a magical blast from Xemnas, and sent a ball of fire spinning in the Superior's direction. He didn't bother to check and see if it hit; instead, he jumped off the box, grabbed the light fixture, and swung onto it. It wasn't the best position—he could feel the cords straining—but it was all he could manage at the moment considering the box he had been standing on just been reduced to nothing from another magic ball of Xemnas'.

As our brave antihero fought, our confused and befuddled heroine was waking up. She was aware enough to note our villain getting hit by one of our antihero's chakrams, and saw our villain retaliate by throwing one aerial blade. It cut the cord, and the light fixture fell to the ground.

Axel jumped off before it crashed, and landed catlike on the floor. He somersaulted over to Xemnas, and kicked him behind his knees. Xemnas fell over, on top of Axel.

As the battle quickly turned into a fistfight, Shoshanah frantically searched for something to throw. Opening one box, she found old, rusty kitchen supplies that included a cracked wooden spoon, a silver mixing bowl, a sifter with a broken handle, and a large butcher knife.

Shoshanah grabbed the knife, and swung in nervously. It felt wrong, but that was probably because she had never really used a knife before: fighting or cooking. She took careful aim, praying that it would hit the right person on the right side.

Xemnas, meanwhile, was untangling himself from Axel. "This is absolutely undignified," he said primly.

If his ribs didn't hurt so much, Axel would've been laughing his head off. "Since when'd you care?" He wheezed.

Xemnas stuck his nose in the air, only to feel something heavy, wooden, and blunt hit him on the chin. Before he could blink, the butcher knife fell, point first, onto his foot.

There are not words I can write that will describe for you the pain that Xemnas felt, nor are there words I _will_ write that can describe what he said. Use your imagination: it'll probably be cleaner that way.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "Good thing there aren't any children here."

"Speak for yourself," Shoshanah muttered. Her face had gone pale, but I think that had more to do with the blood lose than Xemnas' little speech.

Axel spun his chakrams, preparing to attack, but paused after hearing a strange noise.

"What the hell is that?"

Shoshanah, and even Xemnas, paused to glance out the door. "No idea," she said. "It sounds kinda like…cats?"

"Now that you mention it…" Axel agreed. It did sound like a lot of meowing.

The meowing got closer and closer. Shoshanah grabbed the wooden spoon, as if it could defend her against an army of cats. And then a voice rang out.

"WOMAN!"

Shoshanah dropped the spoon, and Axel and Xemnas felt as if an Larxene had just zapped them with a lightning bolt.

Wally stood in the doorway, surrounded by hundreds of cats holding spoons in their mouths.

He flashed Shoshanah a grin, but then got down to business. Pointing at Xemnas, he shouted, "GO!" Instantly, all his little worshipers zoomed in on the unfortunate Nobody, beating him with their little spoons. Xemnas tried warping away, but as he did so, the cats got sucked into the portal of darkness as well.

"Will they be able to get back?" Shoshanah asked, concerned.

Wally beamed. "YES!"

"The guys cleared up the Nobodies and Heartless downstairs so fast, made me feel pretty green," Riku said. He had just arrived by the door with everyone else that'd been fighting, including Zexion and Demyx.

"Is he dead?" Sora asked, looking a little disappointed he hadn't been able to fight Xemnas.

"Probably," Zexion said lazily. "I think it's time we left."

Wally nodded. "GO HOME!" He yelled happily, and then looked uncertainly at Shoshanah. "WITH YOU?"

"Everyone's coming," Shoshanah assured him, smiling.

Axel cleared his throat pointedly. "So go," he ordered the men of the room.

Zexion rolled his eyes. "Come on. I think our two leaders want to talk." He opened up a dark corridor.

"_Leaders_?" Riku began hotly, but Axel pushed him in.

-

I couldn't resist throwing Wally in one last time. Can you tell?

One chapter more!


	32. Ending

Our heroine turned to our antihero. "Can we make this fast, Axel? I think I need a bit more healing than just a potion."

"Excuse me," Axel said, a bit nettled. "That's all I had to work with, missy. And, might I remind you, I _did_ save your life. Is this all the thanks I get?"

Shoshanah opened her mouth to make a smart remark, but thought better and closed it again. Unbeknownst to her, a smile began creeping onto her face.

"Don't smirk at me like that. See if I ever save your life again."

"All right!" She laughed. "What do you want?"

Abruptly, Axel was serious. "I want you to wait for me."

"Wait for you?" Shoshanah repeated, still chuckling a little. "For what?"

"Oh, come on, Sparky. If we're planning on any sort of…relationship, one of us can't be missing one of their vital organs. Namely, a heart."

Shoshanah clasped her hands behind her back, and rocked back and forth. "So…you want me to wait like a good little girl while you go off and find your heart? Is that it, Axel?"

Axel crossed his arms. "Yep. That sounds about right."

Shoshanah nodded. She was still smiling, but it was no longer a very pleasant smile. It was more of an evil smirk. "Uh-huh. And how, my fine Nobody, do you think we can have any sort of relationship if you insist on treating me like a little girl?"

"Oh, boy," Axel groaned.

Shoshanah pretended she hadn't heard that. "Listen, buddy," she said, pointing her finger at his chest in a very threatening manner. "Neither of us knows how long it's gonna take you to get a heart again, and I'm not sitting around on my ass until I'm an old lady for us to have any 'relationship.' Got it memorized?"

"Don't use my catchphrase against me," Axel protested.

She breathed in deeply through her mouth. When she had calmed down a bit, she continued. "That's not really the point, you know. The point is I'm not waiting for you. I'm going with you, and that's the end of it."

Axel began to smile. This was starting to get entertaining.

Shoshanah caught the tiny smile, and deepened her glare. "Am I coming with you, or not?" She demanded.

He shrugged. "Sure. Maybe I'll get it faster with two of us looking."

Shoshanah nodded, businesslike. "Good. Then let's go home." She turned on heel, and began to march through the dark corridor Zexion had left opened, but Axel grabbed her wrist. When Shoshanah began to protest, he swept her into an embrace, and kissed her fully on the mouth.

After what seemed like hours, he broke off. Shoshanah wobbled, and probably would've fallen if he hadn't been holding her up. Pulling back, he eyed her in concern. "You okay, Sparky?"

She managed to choke out, "I think my heart just stopped."  
He flashed her a crooked grin. "One of the advantages of being a Nobody. Won't be one for long, though, right?" He winked, and leaned forward. In her ear, he whispered, "Thanks, Sparky." And with that, he began to leave.

Suddenly, Shoshanah wanted to tell him something. "Axel!"

He spun on heel, his cloak fanning out around him. "Ye-ah?"

It was probably not a very good time to tell him, but since she had started, Shoshanah was determined to continue. "I just…wanted to tell you…I kinda…I love you…."

Axel shrugged. "I know."

Any warm, fuzzy feelings she had been feeling for the man in front of her instantly flooded out her body. Probably through her open mouth. "Excuse me?"

"I may not have emotions, Sparky, but I _can_ figure out other people's. And you're not particularly good at hiding yours." He raised his hand in a mock salute. "Got it memorized?" And then he warped away.

Shoshanah stood in shock for a few more moments. Her bad leg threatened to give away, and her other leg didn't appear to be faring much better. Her chest ached, but it didn't seem to be from the wound Xemnas had given her.

With a jolt, she remembered the corridor wouldn't stay open for much longer. Hurriedly, she ran in, right before it disappeared.

She found herself in the ruined mansion at Twilight Town, where there appeared to be a party in full swing. Demyx, who probably did the least of anyone, seemed to be enjoying it the most, playing his sitar with much enthusiasm. Naminé, wherever she had come from, watched him as though mesmerized. Sora was literally bouncing off the walls from too much sugar, as Donald zoomed around the room trying to catch him. Zexion ate something he had made, while watching the whole scene with a mildly entertained expression. Goofy sat in a corner, chuckling to himself, as Wally and the cats danced. Riku and Axel seemed to be arguing.

Axel caught Shoshanah's eye, and winked again. Shoshanah grinned and blushed, and went to help herself to a hyper-potion and some food.

-

And...that's it! Thanks to everyone who stuck by and read all this, and even more thanks to everyone who reviewed!


End file.
